Newly elected Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday read out a statement in the House condemning the proclamation of Emergency by Indira Gandhi in 1975 as a “black chapter”, triggering protests by shocked Opposition members.

The statement, not listed as part of the House business of the day, led to uproarious protests from the Opposition benches, shattering the fleeting bonhomie witnessed during Birla’s election that saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi shaking hands and escorting the new Speaker to his Chair.

The 49th anniversary of the Emergency was on Tuesday.

“Honourable members, this House strongly condemns the decision to impose Emergency in 1975,” Birla said in his opening lines that were described as “Reference regarding: declaration of Emergency in 1975” and not a resolution of the House.

Birla used strong words to slam the “dictatorial Congress government” of Indira Gandhi for imposing the Emergency and “attacking the Constitution crafted by Babasaheb Ambedkar” and concluded by urging the newly elected MPs to observe two-minute silence in memory of all those who had lost their lives fighting the excesses during those “black days”.

The Opposition members, mostly from the Congress, stood and protested as Birla read out the statement on “behalf of the House”.

Birla, however, went on to stress how the “rights of the people were crushed by the dictatorial Indira Gandhi regime, freedom of citizens snatched, Opposition leaders were jailed and the freedom of the media was snatched”. The Speaker said that the new generation should be made aware of those “black days” and stressed that the House resolves to “protect the Constitution”.

“It has been a rather dramatic start to the session because you had all Opposition leaders standing up and saying that they hope that the Speaker would conduct the House in a manner that is fair to all Opposition parties and that (he) would take everyone’s voice into account and give everyone’s voice and opportunity to be heard,” Congress MP Shashi Tharoor told reporters outside the House.

“What we saw was the Speaker, unfortunately, raising a matter that had not been discussed in the House and in a manner that came across as confrontational, which was not the right note on which to start the session. But we will have to see how things proceed,” he added.

Modi and other senior ministers thanked Birla for condemning the Emergency in the House. “I am glad that the Honourable Speaker strongly condemned the Emergency, highlighted the excesses committed during that time, and also mentioned the manner in which democracy was strangled,” Modi said in an X post.