Rahul Gandhi meets Speaker, says remarks on Emergency ‘clearly political’

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in his chamber on Thursday and voiced his displeasure over the reference to the Emergency made by him in the House.

Rahul Gandhi said it was “clearly political” and the matter could have been avoided, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal told reporters after the meeting in Parliament.

Apart from Rahul Gandhi, the meeting was attended by Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav, RJD MP Misa Bharti and NCP Sharad Pawar faction leader Supriya Sule.

“It was a courtesy call during which Rahul Gandhi also raised the issue of the Emergency being invoked by the Speaker in the House,” Venugopal said.

“The Speaker declared Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of the Opposition and after that, he along with other INDIA bloc partner leaders met the Speaker,” he further said.

On Wednesday, soon after Om Birla took charge as the Speaker for the second consecutive time, he read out a resolution condemning the imposition of the Emergency on the night of June 25-26, 1975, and triggering protests from the Congress.

Om Birla also observed a two-minute silence in the memory of the citizens who lost their lives during the “dark period”. He said democratic values of India were crushed and freedom of expression was strangled during the Emergency.

Congress members rushed into the well of the House as Birla read the statement, forcing an adjournment.

The reference to the Emergency was also made by President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday during her address to a joint sitting of Parliament.

The President called the Emergency the “biggest attack” on the Constitution and the “darkest chapter” in the country’s history.