President Murmu to address joint sitting of Parliament today

Following the President's address, a motion of thanks will be moved in both Houses of Parliament, which will be discussed by the members.

The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha began on Monday and the Rajya Sabha session will start from today.

Earlier on Wednesday, Om Birla was elected as the Lok Sabha Speaker for the second time in a row after the motion moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seconded by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was adopted by the House through a voice vote on Wednesday.

Speaking on occasion, Birla urged that there should be a new vision and resolve for the 18th Lok Sabha.

He called for the 18th Lok Sabha to be a centre of creative thinking and new ideas, which would establish high levels of parliamentary traditions and dignity and added that the aim of the House should be to fulfil the resolve of Viksit Bharat.

Wishing Birla on his re-election as Speaker of the Lower House, Prime Minister Modi said that it is a huge responsibility to sit in this post for the second time during the Amrit Kaal. PM Modi also asserted that the decision taken in the 17th Lok Sabha under the presidency of Om Birla will be considered a golden period in parliamentary history.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, congratulated Om Birla on his re-election and said that the Lok Sabha Speaker is the final arbiter of the voice of the people, and the Opposition this time represents that voice significantly more than the 17th Lok Sabha.

Birla, during his speech, expressed confidence that the 18th Lok Sabha will uphold its commitment to preserve and protect the Constitution created by Baba Saheb. Birla noted that the 18th Lok Sabha will remain committed to the rule of law and decentralisation of powers in the country.

In his first speech as Leader of the Opposition of the 18th Lok Sabha, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that it was important that the voice of the opposition be allowed in the House, adding that he hoped that the opposition would be allowed to raise the voice of people in the House with cooperation and trust.

Rahul Gandhi said that it was important that the voice of the opposition be allowed in this House and that the opposition wanted the House to function "often and well," adding that it was very important that cooperation happen with trust.

The Leader of the Opposition began his speech by congratulating Om Birla for being elected speaker of the Lok Sabha for a second term."Mr Speaker, this House represents the voice of the people of India and you, sir, are the final arbiter of that voice. Of course, the government has political power, but the opposition also represents the people of India," he said.

Pointing out that this time the opposition represents significantly more voices of the Indian people than last time, Gandhi stressed that it was very important that the voice of the opposition be allowed to be represented in the House."This time, the opposition represents significantly more of the voice of the people of India than it did last time. The opposition would like to assist you in your work and would want the house to function often and well. It is very important that cooperation happens on the basis of trust," he said.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the imposition of Emergency on June 26, 1975, the speaker praised the strength and determination of all those who strongly opposed the Emergency, fought and protected India's democracy.

Earlier, the INDIA bloc demanded the position of Deputy Speaker. However, with no clarity forthcoming from the BJP, the INDIA bloc put forward Congress MP K Suresh's name for the Speaker's post.

This is the first Lok Sabha session post-general elections in which the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) bagged 293 seats while the INDIA bloc secured 234 seats. The BJP, however, couldn't reach majority on its own, as it was restricted to 240 seats. (ANI)