Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has decided not to occupy the Speaker’s chair until the no-confidence motion moved against him is discussed and disposed of in the House, sources in the Lok Sabha Secretariat said on Wednesday.
According to sources, the Speaker has taken what is being described as a moral position to convey a message to the opposition that any notice expressing lack of confidence in the Chair should be addressed and concluded without delay.
The decision, they said, reflects his view that once a no-confidence motion has been admitted against the office of the Speaker, it is appropriate for the House to settle the matter formally.
Sources added that Birla is unlikely to reconsider his stand even if requested by either the government or the opposition.
He is understood to have conveyed his sentiments clearly to leaders across party lines, including opposition members who met him on Tuesday.
The discussion on the no-confidence motion is expected to take place on the first day of the second part of the Budget Session, scheduled to begin on March 9.
The development comes amid an intensifying standoff between the opposition and the BJP-led NDA government during the ongoing Budget Session.
On Tuesday, the Congress moved a notice seeking the removal of Om Birla as Lok Sabha Speaker under Article 94(c) of the Constitution, alleging repeated instances of partisan conduct.
The notice, signed by 120 opposition MPs, accused the Speaker of denying speaking time to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, failing to take action against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey for allegedly making unsubstantiated remarks against women Congress MPs, and suspending eight opposition members from the House.
In its resolution, the Congress alleged that the Speaker had conducted proceedings in a “blatantly partisan manner", arguing that opposition leaders were repeatedly denied their democratic right to speak in Parliament.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore described the move as one taken under “extraordinary circumstances".
Parliament Ruckus
Parliament has seen repeated disruptions during the Budget Session, particularly following the Speaker’s decision to prevent Rahul Gandhi from quoting from an article referring to an unpublished memoir by former Army chief General MM Naravane during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address.
The House witnessed chaos as Gandhi insisted on reading excerpts related to the 2020 Galwan Valley clash with China.
Tensions escalated further after eight Congress MPs were suspended for continued disruptions.
In another flashpoint, Birla advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to attend the House for a scheduled address on February 4, citing intelligence inputs that some Congress MPs could rush towards the Prime Minister’s seat and cause an “unprecedented incident".
Rahul Gandhi later rejected the claim, asserting that the Prime Minister avoided the House due to issues being raised by the opposition.
Under Article 94(c) of the Constitution, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha can be removed by a resolution passed by a majority of the total membership of the House.
While the motion is unlikely to succeed numerically, given the NDA’s strength of 293 seats in the 543-member House compared to the opposition’s 238, the discussion would allow the opposition to formally place its allegations against the Speaker on record.
The motion, therefore, is widely seen as symbolic, but politically significant in the context of the ongoing confrontation in Parliament.
Source: News18