'Dark Period': Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla Invokes Emergency, Opposition Fumes

The re-election of Om Birla as Lok Sabha Speaker was marked by a brief moment of cordiality between political rivals - Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi - but quickly gave way to the familiar chaos.

After Birla's re-election by voice vote, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi congratulated him and even shook hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Photo Credit: PTI

Along with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, they escorted Birla to the Speaker's chair. Opposition leaders also congratulated Birla but stressed on the need for their voices to be heard in Parliament.

The question is not how efficiently the House is run. The question is how much of India's voice is being allowed to be heard. So the idea that you can run the House efficiently by silencing the voice of the Opposition is a non-democratic idea. And this election has shown that the people of India expect the Opposition to defend the Constitution," remarked the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.

The tension resurfaced when Birla mentioned the "dark days of Emergency" and called for a two-minute silence to mark its 50th anniversary, reported NDTV. This remark led to an uproar from the Opposition benches, resulting in the adjournment of the House.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor criticised the Speaker's statement as "divisive", "unfortunate", and "undermining consensus".

"This was not necessary. It was 49 years ago. If you have to go to such lengths on a day on which the message was to be one of cooperation and consensus, that's unfortunate," he said.

Today's election was historic as it was only the third such election for the Lok Sabha Speaker post-independence, with the Congress pitting K Suresh against Birla.

Despite the contest, Birla secured the position with the support of 297 MPs, while Suresh had 232. The Deputy Speaker post, traditionally given to an Opposition MP, remains vacant, with the government currently not considering appointing one.