Samajwadi Party said the Sengol - a symbol of monarchy - needed to be replaced by a copy of the Indian Constitution.
President Droupadi Murmu being escort by a guard carrying the Sengol.
The joint sitting of the Parliament on Thursday, 27 June, witnessed a row over the Sengol which was placed near the chair of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and the mention of the emergency by the Speaker and the President.
INDIA bloc partner Samajwadi Party (SP) said the Sengol needed to be replaced by a copy of the Constitution adding that it was demeaning India’s culture and democracy.
Subsequently, the Opposition parties endorsed the remarks and said the issue would be discussed in a joint party meeting.
However, the ruling BJP hit out at the Opposition saying they were insulting Tamil Nadu, where the Sengol belongs.
Another issue that rocked the lower House of the Parliament on Wednesday and Thursday was the mentioning of the Emergency imposed by former prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.
Soon after his election as Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla had on Wednesday read out a resolution condemning the imposition of Emergency as an attack on the Constitution by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi
The act triggered vociferous protests by Congress members in the House.
On Thursday, President Droupadi Murmu described it as the “biggest and darkest chapter” of a direct attack on the Constitution and said the country emerged victorious over such unconstitutional forces.
SP MP RK Chaudhary said the Sengol was a symbol of monarchy.
“The adoption of the Constitution marked the beginning of democracy in the country, and the Constitution is its symbol. The BJP government in its last term installed ‘sengol’ next to the Speaker’s chair. Sengol is a Tamil word that means sceptre. Raj-Dand also means the king’s stick. We have become independent after the age of kings,” he said.
Now, every man and woman who is an eligible voter chooses the government to run this country. So will the country run by Constitution or by a king’s stick?” he questioned.
Supporting the decision, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said that the government was making a “high drama” since the new Parliament building was inaugurated.
“I support my Samajwadi Party colleague in this. The INDIA bloc will discuss this in the joint meeting and it will be good if a joint decision is made,” Tagore said.
Congress leader Veerappa Moily also said he supports Chaudhary’s remarks.
BJP MP Ravi Kishan criticised Chaudhary, suggesting that the Opposition’s stance was similar to trying to replace Lord Ram.
“They want to replace Lord Ram, the other day they compared their MP with Lord Ram,” he said.
Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi defended Prime Minister Modi’s actions, asserting that whatever PM Modi has done regarding the Sengol is correct and should remain as is, reported ANI.
Union Minister Chirag Paswan expressed confusion over Chaudhary’s controversial approach, questioning whether he was elected for development or to engage in such divisive politics.
Paswan highlighted that symbols like the Sengol, which have been disrespected for decades, are now honoured by the Prime Minister.
It is said that the “Sengol” — a sceptre — was given to Jawaharlal Nehru by Lord Mountbatten minutes before the proclamation of independence symbolising
Addressing a joint sitting of Parliament, the President said when the Constitution was being drafted, there were forces in the world who wished India to fail.
Even after the Constitution came into force, there were several attacks on the Constitution, she noted.
“Today is 27th June. The imposition of Emergency on 25 June, 1975 was the biggest and darkest chapter of direct attack on the Constitution. The entire country felt outraged. But the country emerged victorious over such unconstitutional forces as the traditions of the republic lie at the core of India,” she said.
She said her government also does not consider the Constitution of India “as just a medium of governance; rather we are making efforts to ensure that our Constitution becomes a part of public consciousness”.
“With this very objective in mind, my government has started celebrating November 26 as Constitution Day,” Murmu noted.
Now the Constitution has also fully come into force in that part of India, our Jammu and Kashmir, where the conditions were different due to Article 370, she observed.
Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had earlier criticised the state of Emergency imposed in 1975.
Addressing the media in the Parliament complex ahead of the start of the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha on 24 June, Modi had termed the Emergency a black spot in India’s parliamentary history when the Constitution was discarded and the country turned into a prison.
Soon after his election as Lok Sabha Speaker, Birla on Wednesday had set off a firestorm by reading out a resolution condemning the imposition of Emergency as an attack on the Constitution by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, an act that triggered vociferous protests by Congress member in the House.
Birla recalled that it was on 26 June, 1975 that the country woke up to the cruel realities of Emergency, when the Congress government jailed opposition leaders, imposed many restrictions on the media and also curbed the autonomy of the Judiciary.
Addressing an event in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday, Vice President Dhankhar said that under any circumstances such a day will not be witnessed in the country now.
Dhankhar said, “The country has never seen dense black clouds, which this day saw (in 1975). The biggest democracy of the world had gone in the dark in 1975. In any circumstances, India will not see such a day.
On 25 June, 1975, at midnight, then President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed declared a state of Emergency in India following advice from the then prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi met Speaker Om Birla on Thursday and voiced his displeasure over the reference to the Emergency made by the chair, saying it was “clearly political” and could have been avoided.
It was a courtesy call during which Gandhi also raised the issue of Emergency being invoked by the Speaker in the House, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal told reporters after the meeting in Parliament House.
“It was a courtesy call. The Speaker declared Rahul Gandhi as the Leader of the Opposition and after that, he along with other INDIA alliance partner leaders met the Speaker,” he said.
Asked whether Gandhi discussed the issue of Emergency being raised in the House, Venugopal said, “We discussed so many things about Parliament functioning. Of course, this issue also came up.”
“Rahul ji, as Leader of Opposition, informed the Speaker about this issue and said it could have been avoided from the Speaker’s reference. That is clearly a political reference, it could have been avoided,” the Congress leader said.
This is Gandhi’s first meeting with the Speaker after he assumed charge as the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
He was accompanied by SP’s Dharmendra Yadav, DMK’s Kanimozhi, Shiv Sena’s (SP) Supriya Sule and TMC’s Kalyan Banerjee, besides some others.
Venugopal also wrote to the Speaker expressing anguish over the mention of the Emergency.
The Speaker’s chair is above partisan politics.
What the Hon’ble Speaker said yesterday in his reference after acceptance speech with political remarks is a travesty of Parliamentary traditions. pic.twitter.com/eoSgJgf3D4
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) June 27, 2024
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)
Jun 29, 2024
Jun 28, 2024
Jun 28, 2024
Jun 28, 2024
Jun 28, 2024
Jun 27, 2024
