Oppn moves notice to remove Lok Sabha Speaker over alleged partisan conduct

Guwahati, Feb 10: Opposition parties, on Tuesday ,submitted a notice seeking the removal of Om Birla from the office of Speaker of the Lok Sabha, accusing him of conducting House proceedings in a “blatantly partisan manner” and abusing the constitutional position entrusted to him.

The notice, moved under Article 94(c) of the Constitution, was submitted to Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh by Congress deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, Congress chief whip K Suresh, and whip Mohamed Jawed, on behalf of several opposition parties including the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the DMK.

According to reports, the notice has been signed by around 120 opposition MPs from parties such as the Congress, DMK, Samajwadi Party, Left parties and the RJD. The MPs from Shiv Sena (UBT) and the NCP (SP) have also endorsed the move.

However, the Trinamool Congress is not a signatory to the notice, and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi has also not signed it, sources said.

In the notice, the opposition alleged that the Speaker has repeatedly denied Opposition leaders their basic democratic right to speak in Parliament.

It cited several instances, including February 2, when Gandhi was allegedly not allowed to complete his speech during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address.

“This is not an isolated incident. The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha is almost invariably not allowed to speak,” the notice claimed, adding that such conduct had severely undermined parliamentary conventions.

The Opposition also objected to the suspension of eight MPs on February 3 for the entire Budget Session, describing the action as “arbitrary” and punitive for merely exercising democratic rights.

Further, the notice referred to an incident on February 4 when a BJP MP was allegedly allowed to make “wholly objectionable and personalised attacks” on two former Prime Ministers without being reprimanded, in an apparent reference to remarks made by Nishikant Dubey.

“In spite of repeated requests, no action has been taken against this particular MP, who is a habitual offender,” the notice said.

The Opposition also took strong exception to remarks made by the Speaker in the House, wherein he claimed to have “concrete information” that some Congress MPs might move towards Narendra Modi’s seat and carry out an “unexpected act”, following which he had requested the Prime Minister not to come to the House to reply to the Motion of Thanks.

“These remarks cast blatantly false and derogatory allegations against members of the Indian National Congress,” the notice stated, adding that the Speaker’s choice to make such assertions on the floor of the House amounted to an abuse of his constitutional office.

Sources said the decision to move the resolution was taken at a meeting of Opposition floor leaders held earlier in the day at the office of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

Following the submission of the notice, Speaker Om Birla reportedly directed the Lok Sabha Secretary General to examine it and take appropriate action in accordance with parliamentary rules.

Sources said the notice will now be examined and processed as per procedure.

Meanwhile, signalling a thaw between the treasury and Opposition benches, the Lok Sabha on Tuesday afternoon resumed discussion on the Union Budget after days of deadlock.

When the House reassembled at 2 pm after two adjournments, Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was in the Chair, invited Congress member Shashi Tharoor to initiate the debate. The Thiruvananthapuram MP then began the discussion.

The breakthrough came shortly after Opposition parties submitted a notice seeking a resolution to remove Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

PTI