President’s speech: Slams Emergency, defends EVMs

President Droupadi Murmu with VP Jagdeep Dhankhar, PM Narendra Modi, Speaker Om Birla and Union Minister Kiren Rijiju at the Parliament House complex before her address. Pic/PTI

President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday stressed the government's unwavering faith in the Constitution and efforts to make it a part of "public consciousness", while slamming the Emergency as the "biggest and darkest chapter of direct attack" on the Constitution.

In her first address to a joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha after Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his third term, she described the poll result as an endorsement of his government's policies while ruing attempts to hurt people's faith in electoral process, including EVMs- an apparent swipe at opposition parties. It is like cutting the very branch on which "we all are sitting", she said.

In her 50-minute address, the President highlighted the government's measures in a range of sectors, from economy, defence and farming to the empowerment of different sections of society, and laid down its priorities in its third term, amid sporadic protests from opposition benches when she referred to issues such as paper leaks and matters related to the North East region.

Opposition slams president's speech

Opposition leaders on Thursday dismissed the President's address to the joint sitting of Parliament as a "script given by the government" that was "full of lies" and also castigated the government over the repeated mention of the 1975 Emergency. They said there is an "undeclared emergency" in the country and the Constitution is being attacked under the Modi government. Murmu described Emergency in 1975 as the "biggest and darkest chapter" of a direct attack on Constitution and said the country emerged victorious over unconstitutional forces.

AAP boycotts Prez's address over CM's arrest

AAP MPs boycotted President Droupadi Murmu's address to the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Thursday to protest against the arrest of party convenor Arvind Kejriwal. Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal was on Wednesday arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the alleged excise policy scam being probed by it. MPs of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) boycotted the President's address and claimed it was written by the Central government, while maintaining that they had full respect for her.

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