When Rahul let go of the ruckus, it felt like ‘everything was fine’, then Birla’s statement caused a ruckus; Hopes of peace in Parliament over?

New Delhi: When Protem Speaker Bhartruhari Mehtab announced the selection of Om Birla as Lok Sabha Speaker Rahul Gandhi he/she went to congratulate him/her. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also saw Rahul coming and gestured him/her to come. When Rahul arrived, he/she first shook hands with Birla and then with Modi. By then Kiren Rijiju also came in the capacity of Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and the three together took Om Birla to the Speaker’s seat. There Bhartrihari Mehtab welcomed him/her and left the seat for him/her. Then Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi and finally Kiren Rijiju greeted the Speaker. Then it seemed as if the gap created between the ruling party and the opposition by Rahul Gandhi’s attack on PM Modi by taking his/her name after the talks between Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge broke down for the post of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, has been bridged. But after some time such a situation arose that it seemed that can peace be expected in the Parliament?

Opposition MPs kept giving advice to Birla while congratulating him/her

What happened was that as soon as he/she took his/her seat, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla called upon the leader of the House, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Leader of Opposition in the House Rahul Gandhi and prominent MPs of various parties. After the Prime Minister’s congratulatory speech of more than 10 minutes, many opposition MPs including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav briefly congratulated the Speaker. Rahul Gandhi congratulated Birla in the first sentence, but immediately also started saying that the Speaker should give the opposition enough opportunity to convey the voice of Indians in the House. Akhilesh Yadav also supported Rahul Gandhi’s appeal by giving ‘many congratulations’. In fact, Akhilesh even said that your control remains on the opposition as well as on the ruling party. After the formality of congratulations was completed, Speaker Om Birla gave his/her statement and the atmosphere of the House changed immediately.

Birla’s statement and the atmosphere of the House changed

In fact, in his/her first statement, the Lok Sabha Speaker strongly condemned the Emergency imposed on the country by the then Indira Gandhi government 50 years ago. In his/her long statement, he/she mentioned ‘Congress’ and ‘black day’ several times. On this, Congress party MPs stood up and started making noise. However, they did not get support from their alliance partners. SP, TDP and TMC MPs supported the Speaker’s statement on the Emergency and remained seated on their seats. Amidst the noise, the Lok Sabha Speaker completed his/her statement and immediately announced the adjournment of the House for the next day, Thursday. The atmosphere of ‘Sab Changa Si’ between the ruling party and the opposition in the House a short while ago changed immediately and the House echoed with noise and uproar.

Did two minutes of silence in Lok Sabha on the Emergency write the script for wasting hours in Parliament?

Even outside the House, the ruling party surrounded the Congress

After the adjournment of the House, the MPs of the ruling party raised slogans against the Emergency at the Makar Dwar of the Parliament, carrying placards. They demanded an apology from the Congress party for the Emergency. Various slogans were written on the banners. One slogan was – We will neither forget the Emergency, nor forgive it, nor let it happen again. The banners held by the MPs of the ruling party, including senior ministers of the Modi government, had slogans written on them like ‘Some things never change’, ‘The mentality of dictatorship is the reality of the Congress’. Everyone shouted slogans, ‘Apologize, apologize, apologize for the Emergency.’

Save the Constitution vs. the sting of emergency

In fact, the entire opposition and especially the Congress party raised the slogan of ‘Save the Constitution’ in the elections. The opposition tried to create fear in the minds of voters that if the Modi government returns to power, it will change the constitution and end reservation. This had a great impact especially in Uttar Pradesh and BJP’s seats were halved. Encouraged by this, the opposition and especially Rahul Gandhi started waving copies of the constitution from press conferences to the Parliament. All the opposition MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, held the copy of the constitution in their hands while taking the oath of office. The ruling party had to respond to this. Then the date of 25 June also came. This was the same date when 50 years ago the Congress government led by Indira Gandhi had imposed emergency in the country. In response to the ‘contemplation of the constitution’, BJP cornered the Congress with the emergency. The question is, will the opposition now stop cornering the government on the constitution? If not, then should peace not be expected in the Parliament?