Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla amends rules; bars members from raising slogans during oath

New Delhi, July 3

With some Lok Sabha members resorting to sloganeering during oath taking, Speaker Om Birla has amended the rule which now bars MPs-elect from adding any remark to the oath as members of the House.

Birla added a fresh clause to ‘Direction 1’ to the ‘Directions by the Speaker’ for regulating certain matters related to the functioning of the House that are not specifically provided in the rules.

According to the amendment to ‘Direction 1’, the new clause 3 now states that a member shall make and subscribe oath or affirmation, and “shall not use any word or expression or make any remark as a prefix or suffix to the form of oath or affirmation”.

The amendment came against the backdrop of several members raising slogans like “Jai Samvidhan” and “Jai Hindu Rashtra” while taking oath last week. 

One member had also raised the slogan ‘Jai Palestine’, which too was objected to by several members. The Speaker had urged the members to stick to the prescribed format but in vain.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju alleged several members used the solemn occasion of taking oath or making affirmation to send a political message.

The slogans also led to a war of words between the treasury and the opposition benches on June 24 and 25.