The Lok Sabha today took up a discussion on the resolution seeking the removal of Speaker Om Birla. Congress MP Dr Mohammad Jawed moved the resolution when the House met after the first adjournment at 12 noon. He alleged that Speaker Om Birla disallowed the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders from putting forth their views in the House and made unwarranted allegations against women MPs of the Opposition. Mr Jawed also alleged that Mr Birla failed to maintain the impartiality needed to command the confidence of all sections of the House.
Participating in the discussion, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju negated the opposition’s allegations, saying that Speaker Om Birla conducted the functioning of the House in an impartial manner. He said that, during the first leg of the Budget Session last month, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi said that he does not need anyone’s permission to speak in this House.
Mr Rijiju said that all members are equal, and everyone needs the chair’s permission to speak in the House. He said not a single member of the Bharatiya Janata Party has ever torn papers and thrown at the Speaker, nor have they done anything that would bring shame to the House. The Minister said that the opposition parties have brought this resolution against the Speaker only to serve their political interests.
Mr Rijiju said that, during the tenure of Mr Birla as Lok Sabha Speaker, several reforms have taken place, and the highest number of matters have been raised during the Zero Hour. He said, under the leadership of Mr Birla, the Parliament has been made completely digital and paperless.
He said, under the leadership of Mr Birla, in the 18th Lok Sabha, NDA MPs were given 321 supplementary questions, while opposition parties were given 364. He said, despite having a larger number of MPs in the government, Mr Birla gave more opportunities to opposition parties. Mr Rijiju said, apart from this, a total of 1,835 issues were raised during Zero Hour, out of which 56 per cent were given to the opposition.
Earlier, initiating the discussion, Gaurav Gogoi of Congress said the leader of the Opposition in the House, Rahul Gandhi, was repeatedly interrupted by the Speaker during his speech on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address. He alleged that Speaker Om Birla acted in a partial manner during the proceedings of the House. Mr Gogoi said this resolution has been brought as a responsibility to protect the dignity of the House, not personally against Mr Birla.
He said the Speaker is not the voice of the government but the custodian of the rights of the entire House. Rajeev Rai of the Samajwadi Party said that the government undermined the position of the Speaker, and no appointment was made for the Deputy Speaker post. He said, the post of Speaker is constitutional, not political.
Mahuaaa Moitra of the Trinamool Congress questioned Om Birla’s tenure as Lok Sabha Speaker, alleging that the maximum number of suspensions of opposition MPs was done in his tenure. She also alleged that mikes of the opposition were deliberately switched off during the course of the discussion and opposition MPs’ adjournment notices were not allowed by the Speaker, Om Birla, on important issues. She also raised the issue of the non-appointment of the Deputy Speaker in the Lower House.
Echoing the same view, TR Baalu of DMK also raised the issue of suspension of opposition MPs during the tenure of Speaker Om Birla. Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu of TDP lauded Speaker Om Birla for conducting the House during the Covid-19 pandemic. He said several precautionary measures have been taken to conduct the smooth functioning of the Lok Sabha. He said several historic bills have been passed during the tenure of Om Birla as a Speaker.
Intervening in the discussion, Panchayati Raj Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, alias Lalan Singh, took a dig at opposition MPs for creating ruckus and disruption in the House, saying that it is against the decorum of the House and it is an insult of the emotions of 140 crore citizens. He alleged that the resolution brought against the Speaker is aimed at creating pressure on him.
Arvind Ganpat Sawant also raised a question over switching off the mikes of opposition members, alleging that the government undermined the position of the Speaker. Dr. Shrikant Eknath Shinde of Shiv Sena supported Speaker Om Birla and criticised the opposition’s behaviour. He said that if the opposition continues to speak in an anti-national manner, the ruling party members will continue to stop them from doing so.
Food Processing Industries Minister Chirag Paswan accused Congress of not having given due respect to Baba Bhimrao Ambedkar. He said Congress talks about the constitution, but it was the same party which imposed emergency in 1975.
Congress MP Manish Tewari questioned the government over the non-appointment of the Deputy Speaker. He said, the rules of procedure and conduct of business in Lok Sabha are to facilitate the freedom of speech given to the members of the House and not to constrain it.
Speaking against the resolution, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey alleged that the opposition has been taking offence because things have been said against Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. He alleged that Congress had suspended several MPs during its tenure in 1989 and now it talks about the constitution.
Bajrang Manohar Sonwane of NCP (SP), Tangella Uday Srinivas from Janasena Party and S Jothimani of Congress participated in the discussion. Discussion remained inconclusive.
