NEW DELHI: In her maiden Address to Parliament since the installation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA 3.0 dispensation, President Droupadi Murmu decried the 1975 Emergency as the darkest chapter of direct attack on the Constitution, cautioned MPs against disruptive forces conspiring to weaken democracy and hailed the 2024 election verdict as people’s endorsement of government’s “sewa-sushasan” mission of 10 years.
Arriving in the new Parliament in her special carriage escorted by the President’s Bodyguard, Murmu walked up to the Lok Sabha podium following the bearer of the Sengol and echoed Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s remarks on the Emergency.
“The Constitution of India has stood up to every challenge and every test in the past decades. Even when the Constitution was in the making, there were forces in the world who wished India to fail. Even after the Constitution came into force, it was attacked many times. Today is June 27. The imposition of the Emergency on June 25, 1975, was the biggest and darkest chapter of direct attack on the Constitution,” the President said amid thunderous applause from Treasury benches led by PM Modi and protestations by Congress members.
She credited India’s traditions for the nation’s ability to overcome unconstitutional forces and said the government was making the Constitution part of the public consciousness as evidenced in the observance of November 26 as Constitution Day and extension of the Indian Constitution to all parts, including Jammu and Kashmir.
On aggressive narratives against the Election Commission and EVMs during the 2024 polls, the President backed the electoral process: “We should feel proud when India conducts such a large election exercise without any major violence and disorder. We must realise that hurting the faith of people in democratic institutions is like cutting the very branch on which we are sitting. We should collectively denounce every attempt to undermine the credibility of our democracy.”
The President also flagged disruptive forces conspiring to weaken democracy and creating fissures in society, saying these forces were present inside and outside India and resorted to rumour-mongering and misinformation. “This cannot be allowed to continue unchecked,” Murmu warned, describing India’s role as Vishwa-Bandhu and a global problem solver.
The President framed PM Modi’s return to power for the third consecutive time as a sign of people’s trust in the government. “The whole world is talking about the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and witnessing that the people of India have elected a stable government with a clear majority, consecutively for the third term. This has happened after six decades. This election has been an election of trust in policy, intention, dedication and decisions,” Murmu said with the opposition MPs voicing disagreement through feeble slogans.
“This time Kashmir has given a befitting reply to every such element,” Murmu said, adding that the 2024 mandate signalled the work of making India a developed nation should continue uninterrupted.
Recalling BR Ambedkar’s legacy, the President said empowerment of the poor was the foundation of the NDA’s decadal achievements and youth, women, farmers and poor would remain priority sectors.
Crediting reforms for India’s emergence as the world’s fifth largest economy in 10 years, poised to be third, she said, “Often due to adversarial mindset and narrow selfishness, the basic spirit of democracy has been undermined…. But people have now changed the situation by their decisive mandate. Many reforms have taken place in 10 years which are greatly benefiting the nation. Even when these were being taken up, they were opposed and attempts made to spread negativity. But these reforms have stood the test of time,” Murmu said, citing GST and robustly growing SBI, LIC and HAL.
With the Union Budget exercise in full swing, the President said the first full Budget of NDA 3.0 would be an effective document of far-reaching policies and futuristic vision.