After Om Birla was re-elected as Lok Sabha Speaker today, competitors exchanged smiles and handshakes. The unusual moment of harmony was short-lived, as mayhem reigned once the newly-elected Speaker invoked the "dark days of Emergency" and called for a 2-minute silence on the emergency..

Soon after Mr Birla, a three-term MP, was re-elected by voice vote, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi approached him and congratulated him. Mr Gandhi shook hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders then led Mr Birla to the Speaker's chair, accompanied by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.

“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," said Mr Gandhi, who is now the Leader of the Opposition. Several leaders from the Opposition benches also brought up the mass suspension of MPs in the last term in their congratulatory messages.

In his address to the House, Mr Birla stated that all members must collaborate for the good of the country. He urged members to maintain decorum in the House, saying there must be a distinction between protests in the sansad (House) and those on the sadak (street). He then invited the members to rise for two minutes of silence to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the "dark days of Emergency." The House was adjourned after an outburst from the Opposition benches.

According to BJP sources, this year is the 50th anniversary of the Emergency. "It is our joint responsibility to raise knowledge about all historical occurrences. According to a source, awareness of the Constitution will only grow if the younger generation understands democracy.

2-minute silence on the emergency. Image Source: Vibes Of India

In response to the Speaker's Emergency remark, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said it is "unfortunate" that the Speaker ended up undercutting the spirit of consensus with a "divisive" speech. "This was unnecessary. It was 49 years ago. "It's unfortunate that you have to go to such lengths on a day when the message should have been one of cooperation and consensus," he remarked.

This was only the third Lok Sabha Speaker election since independence. The vote took place after the Congress forced a contest and presented eight-time MP K Suresh as a challenger. The numbers, on the other hand, obviously favoured Mr Birla. The NDA candidate received 297 votes, while the Opposition nominee received 232.

The Lok Sabha Speaker is normally elected by consensus. This time, the government had asked opposition parties for their assistance. Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress president, then stated that if the Deputy Speaker is nominated from the Opposition benches, the party will back the NDA nominee.

The government, however, made it clear that they are not considering a Deputy Speaker post, or the Opposition's claim to it, for now. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said, "We appealed to them for support for the Speaker, but they said that they would support it but that they wanted the post of Deputy Speaker. We told them that the process of election for both posts is different. The process for choosing the Speaker is conducted before the Deputy Speaker. So it is not right to combine both."

Mr Gandhi had yesterday hit out at the government, alleging that the Prime Minister speaks of cooperation, but acts differently. He said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who was reaching out to Opposition parties for support, did not get back to Mr Kharge.

“Rajnath Singh called Mallikarjun Kharge and asked him to extend support... entire Opposition said we will support but convention is Deputy Speaker should be from our side. Rajnath Singh said he would call back... but he has not yet...PM is asking for cooperation but our leader is getting insulted."

It must be noted that the Deputy Speaker's post, traditionally given to an Opposition MP, was vacant in the last Lok Sabha. In the one before that, the BJP had named its ally AIADMK's M Thambi Durai.

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