New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu will address the joint session of the Parliament on Thursday, June 27, at 11 AM in the Lok Sabha chamber of the new Parliament House. The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha began on Monday, June 24 and the 264th session of the Rajya Sabha will begin on June 27.
This will be the first address to the joint session of the new government. However, in February Murmu addressed both the Houses of the new Parliament during the interim budget of the previous government. She will reach the Parliament in a procession from the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Thursday, escorted by the horse-mounted presidential bodyguards.
At the Parliament building's Gaja Dwar, she will be greeted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the leaders of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. From there, she will be led by the traditional sceptre, known as Sengol, to the Lower House chamber.
On July 2-3, PM Modi is expected to respond to the debate on the motion of thanks. President Murmu is likely to give a thorough summary of the policies of the central government during the last ten years in her speech, emphasising accomplishments in a number of sectors including the social welfare, healthcare, education, defense, and economics.
A revived Opposition, meantime, is getting ready to take on the government on a number of fronts, including the irregularities in the NEET-UG, the cancelation of UGC-NET, terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir, rail accidents, and the increasing cost of essential commodities.
According to Article 87 of the Constitution, the President is required to address a joint session of Parliament at the beginning of the session after each Lok Sabha election. The President also addresses a joint sitting of both Houses in the first session of the Parliament every year.