‘Indira Gandhi Imposed Dictatorship...’: Newly-Elected Speaker Sparks Row Over Emergency Remarks

New Delhi: The short-lived harmony between the government and opposition after the election of the NDA nominee as the 18th Lok Sabha speaker defused when the newly selected Om Birla mentioned the ‘dark days of emergency’ and called the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's decision an assault on the Constitution. 

The resolution invited protests from the opposition MPs, including those from Congress, as they stood up and began raising slogans against the mention of the emergency. 

"June 25, 1975, will always be known as a black chapter in the history of India. On this day, then prime minister Indira Gandhi imposed an emergency in the country and attacked the Constitution made by Babasaheb Ambedkar," the speaker said, according to PTI. 

Birla said that India was popular around the world as the mother of democracy. However, he believed, “Indira Gandhi imposed dictatorship on such an India.” The speaker added that the rights of Indian citizens were crushed, and freedom of expression was strangled. 

He said the rights of Indian citizens were crushed, and their freedom was snatched away. 

"Those were the times when opposition leaders were jailed; the entire nation was turned into a prison. The then-dictatorial government had put several restrictions on the media, and there was restraint on the autonomy of the judiciary," Birla said. 

The speaker asked the members to observe a moment of silence and adjourned the day's proceedings. 

Shortly after the adjournment, BJP members held protests outside Parliament, waving placards and chanting slogans. 

Earlier today, Om Birla assumed the role of lower house speaker after the voice vote in his favour. Several prominent leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, congratulated Birla on his second term in the speaker’s chair.

#WATCH | Union Minister Kiren Rijiju says, "...On 26th June 1975, the then PM Indira Gandhi called emergency cabinet meeting and ratified post-facto, the PM took the decision alone...That is why today we passed the resolution in the House that such trampling, demolition of… pic.twitter.com/ONMYw6ufqY — ANI (@ANI) June 26, 2024