In Parliament address, President Murmu flags Emergency, assures action over paper leaks & praises 10 years of Modi Govt

Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speakr Om Birla had earlier criticised the state of Emergency imposed in 1975.

New Delhi: In her first joint address to members of both the Houses after the Lok Sabha elections, President Droupadi Murmu said the NEET paper leaks will be taken up strongly and her government is committed to a "fair" investigation and ensuring “strict” punishment to the culprits.

She also spoke about the Emergency and said it was a “dark” period in our democracy. President Murmu also praised the last ten years of Modi’s government and said India is now the fifth largest economy in the world. 

In a speech that spanned over 50 minutes, the President said the people of India have reposed their faith in her government a third time.

“The Election Commission conducted the largest election in the world where 64 crore Indians voted. 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, adding that the voting numbers in Kashmir Valley also broke records. 

The President added that her government is committed to the idea of “Reform, Perform and Transform”.

“This has made India the fastest growing economy in the world today. In 10 years, India has risen to become the fifth largest economy from being the eleventh. From 2021 to 2024, India has grown at an average rate of 8 per cent annually … this growth has not been under usual circumstances. We saw the biggest pandemic in 100 years,” she said, adding that India is contributing 15 per cent to global growth. 

She added that in the past decade ₹3,20,000 crores has been disbursed to farmers under PM Kisan and the immediate future will be “Harit Yug” or “green era”.

"In the past 10 years, airline routes increased from 209 in 2014 to 605 in 2024, by reaching out to 21 more cities. “My Government has, in 10 years, constructed more than 3,80,000 kilometres of village roads under the PM Gram Sadak Yojana,” she said. 

The President said that in the last decade 25 crore people left poverty, 4 crore women were allotted houses under PM Awas, and 10 crore women have been mobilised in SHGs. 

Murmu’s address, which was viewed by the envoys and officials of several countries, also elicited protests from Opposition members who urged her to speak on Manipur strife, too. 

Before her address, Murmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and prime minister Narendra Modi made a round of the Parliament complex. After the President’s address, Dhankar read out a few lines of her address in English. But, his address was met with several protests from Opposition MPs.