President Murmu to address joint session of Parliament on Tuesday to mark 75 years of Constitution

New Delhi: As part of celebrations for completing 75 years of the Constitution, a joint session of Parliament will be held on Tuesday, where President Droupadi Murmu will lead the celebrations.

The government will also release a commemorative coin, a stamp, release a booklet, and launch a website where people can explore the Constitution in various languages.

However, politics also erupted over the celebrations with the Opposition demanding that Leaders of Opposition of both Houses be given a chance to speak. The government did not agree to these conditions.

On the first day of the Winter Session,I.N.D.I.A. leaders wrote to Speaker Om Birla asking that both the LoPs, Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha and Mallikarjun Kharge in the Rajya Sabha – be allowed to speak.

However, the government said that the LoPs will be on dais, but will not address. In the official agenda, only President Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar and Speaker Om Birla will give brief speeches. Prime minister Narendra Modi will also be present.

On Tuesday, after her address to members of both Houses in a joint sitting at the Central of the old Parliament building Samvidhan Sadan, President Droupadi Murmu will lead the reading of the Preamble. The business in both Houses will be stalled for the day.

At the sitting, apart from the screening of a short film on the Constitution, a commemorative coin and stamp dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the adoption of Constitution of India will be released. Two books titled Making of the Constitution of India: A Glimpse and Making of the Constitution of India & its Glorious Journey will also be released, apart from a booklet on the art of the Constitution. Translations of the Constitution in Sanskrit and Maithili will also be released.

The government said that it will also hold a mass reading of the Preamble across the country. A dedicated website – ‘constitution75.com’ – will be released which will have provisions for interactive activities.

Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, in a press conference, said that it was only after the Modi administration came to power in 2014, that the day was dedicated to commemorate the makers of the Constitution. “Prior to that, the Supreme Court would celebrate the day as ‘Kanoon Diwas’,” he said.

After the celebrations in the Parliament, in the evening, PM Modi will participate in the Constitution Day celebrations at the Supreme Court, where he will release the Annual Report of the Indian Judiciary and address the gathering alongside the Chief Justice of India.