President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday invoked the Emergency as “the biggest and darkest chapter of direct attack on the Constitution” in her address to Parliament, a day after Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s chastisement of the Indira Gandhi government for the “blot” had provoked uproar.

The President’s address to Parliament is prepared by the government, so her comments were widely seen as a political counterpunch by the Narendra Modi government against the Congress’s relentless campaign about the Constitution being “under attack” from the ruling dispensation.

The back-to-back condemnations of the Emergency by two constitutional authorities have come at a time the Opposition has been protesting outside and inside the House — with copies of the Constitution — claiming the country has been under an “undeclared emergency” for the last 10 years under Modi.

“Today is 27th June. The imposition of Emergency on 25th June, 1975, was the biggest and darkest chapter of direct attack on the Constitution. The entire country felt outraged,” Murmu said in her first address to the joint session of Parliament after the April-June general election.

“But the country emerged victorious over such unconstitutional forces as the traditions of the republic lie at the core of India,” she added, amid cheers from the government benches and protests and jeers from Opposition members.

On Wednesday, hours after his election as Lok Sabha Speaker for a second term, Birla had read out a statement in the House describing the Emergency as a “black chapter” and castigating the “dictatorial” Congress government of the day.

“The Congress trampled upon the spirit of the Constitution. It imposed dictatorship in 1975…. The Emergency is a blot on our history,” Birla had said, leading to uproarious protests, mainly from the Congress members.

Repeated bouts of loud protest from Opposition members punctuated the President’s address, a traditional exercise to outline the government’s achievements and lay out a vision for the future.

The first round of jeers from the Opposition benches came when Murmu lauded the people for voting the government back to power with a “clear majority”, despite the BJP being 32 short of majority.

“The world is witnessing that the people of India have elected a stable government with clear majority, consecutively for the third term. This has happened after six decades,” she said.

“The people of India have full faith that only my government can fulfil their aspirations,” she went on, ignoring the protests.

Shouts of “NEET…” reverberated in the House when the President referred to the government’s commitment to providing “right opportunities to the youth” while touching upon the alleged paper leaks in national-level entrance and recruitment exams.

“Whether it is competitive examinations or government recruitment, there should be no reason for any hindrance. This process requires complete transparency and probity,” Murmu said.

“Regarding the recent instances of paper leak in some examinations, my government is committed to a fair investigation and ensuring strict punishment to
the culprits.”

The President triggered another round of protests when she said: “Even earlier, we have witnessed many instances of paper leaks in different states. It is important that we rise above party politics and undertake concrete measures nationwide.”

A chorus of “Manipur, Manipur…” broke out when Murmu credited the government with ushering “development” and “peace” in the Northeast.

“My government is continuously working for lasting peace in the Northeast,” she said, stressing that in the last 10 years, “many old disputes have been resolved and many important agreements have been reached”.

As she spoke of reforms in the armed forces, Opposition members broke into chants of “Agnipath, Agnipath…” in protest against the scheme of temporary recruitments that critics say will hurt morale and professionalism in the military.

“Modernisation of our armed forces is essential for a strong India…. Guided by this, my government has introduced many reforms in the defence sector in the last 10 years,” Murmu said.

She went on to express disapproval of obstructions in Parliament — in what seemed another government bullet fired from her shoulder at the Opposition.

“Opposition to policies and obstruction of parliamentary functioning are two different things,” the President said.