NEW DELHI: The 18th Lok Sabha began on an unpleasant note on Monday with the ruling NDA dispensation under PM Narendra Modi and the INDIA bloc led by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and MP Rahul Gandhi accusing one other of undermining the Constitution and being more anti-Dalit than the other.
Soon after Opposition leaders protested the disregard of eight-term Congress MP K Suresh, an SC lawmaker, for appointment as Pro tem Speaker, a post that went to BJP’s seven-term MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, the PM asked them to act responsibly. “People don’t expect tantrums, drama and disruptions. People want substance, not slogans. The country needs a good and responsible Opposition. I am hopeful our MPs will try to fulfil the expectations of the people,” said Modi, flanked by four ministers representing four regions of the country.
His remarks were closely followed by JP Nadda’s letter to Kharge in which the BJP president questioned top Congress brass’ silence over the Tamil Nadu hooch tragedy in which, Nadda said, most of the 56 deceased were Dalits. Earlier speaking at the start of the first session of 18th Lok Sabha, PM Modi took veiled jibes at the Congress by flagging June 25, 2024, the 50th anniversary of the Emergency imposed by late PM Indira Gandhi in 1975.
“Tomorrow marks the 50th year of the Emergency when the Constitution was negated, the country converted into a jail and fundamental rights suspended. It was a black spot on our democracy,” the PM said, even as he reiterated his earlier line that governments were run by majority, but the nations were run by consensus. “We want to take everyone along,” he said, inviting rebuttals from Kharge who flagged what he called “the undeclared 10-year emergency in the country”.
“You are reminding us of the 50-year-old Emergency, but have forgotten the last 10 years of the undeclared emergency, which was ended by the people, who have given their mandate against the PM,” the Congress chief said.
Kharge also asked why the PM, in his longer than usual address on Monday, skipped mentioning paper leaks, Bengal train tragedy, Manipur crisis, Assam floods and rising prices.
The PM on his part hailed the commencement of the 18th Lok Sabha as a milestone event in the Indian history for the fact that newly elected MPs took oath in the new Parliament building for the first time.
Modi also took the occasion to laud NDA’s 2024 General Election win as a “majestic victory considering this was the first time after 60 years that an incumbent government was returned thrice”.
At the start of the day, President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath to Pro tem Speaker Mahtab in the presence of PM and top ministers. Later in the Lok Sabha, Mahtab administered the oath first to PM Modi and then to the members of the panel of MPs appointed by the President to assist the Pro tem Speaker in administering oath to new MPs over Monday and Tuesday. Opposition MPs on this panel K Suresh (Congress), TR Baalu (DMK) and Sudip Bandopadhyay (TMC) boycotted the oath in protest of Mahtab being named Pro tem Speaker.