NEW DELHI: Parliament on Wednesday reverberated with full-throated chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ with members applauding President Droupadi Murmu as she said construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya marked the fulfilment of the country’s centuries-old desire and a defining moment which could shape the course of coming centuries.
She also referred to the removal of Art 370 in J&K, law against triple talaq and CAA.

“There come junctures in the history of civilisations which shape the future for the coming centuries. There have been many such defining moments in the history of India also. This year, on January 22, the country witnessed a similar epochal moment… This was a matter of aspiration and faith for crores of our countrymen and the resolution of this has been accomplished in a harmonious manner,” the President said concluding her speech after referring to the Ram temple twice earlier.
This was the first joint session to be hosted in the new Parliament building.Murmu’s every reference to the Ram temple was greeted with thunderous applause and she had to pause while the Lok Sabha hall, hosting the first joint sitting, reverberated with thumping of desks. Once, even Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was seen joining the treasury benches.
In her 75-minute speech, seen as the government’s vision statement, she mentioned several big ticket reforms in the past 10 years and had multiple mentions of the Ram temple. In the very beginning, she said, “For centuries, there was an aspiration to construct the Ram Mandir. Today it is a reality.”
Along with Ram temple, Murmu also referred to BJP fulfilling key poll promises in the last five years.
“There were doubts regarding the removal of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. Those are now history. This Parliament also enacted a strict law against ‘triple talaq’ and a law to grant citizenship to persecuted minorities from our neighbouring countries,” she said.
The President said the government believed that the grand edifice of a ‘Viksit Bharat’ would be erected on four strong pillars – youth, women, farmers and poor – for whose empowerment the government was working tirelessly as a significant portion of tax revenues had been spent to empower them.
Murmu also hailed the armed forces for giving a befitting reply to terrorism and expansionism, an apparent reference to Pakistan and China, as she asserted that India has emerged as a prominent voice against terrorism in the world.
In her maiden address in the new Parliament building, the President listed the economic reforms undertaken by the government that has transformed India from the group of “fragile five” to the “top five” economies in the world.