'Blatantly partisan': Opposition submits no-confidence notice to remove Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla

Opposition parties on Tuesday submitted a notice for moving a resolution to remove Om Birla from the office of Lok Sabha Speaker, alleging that he had acted in a “blatantly partisan” manner in conducting the business of the House and abused the constitutional office by making “blatantly false” allegations against Congress MPs.

Congress' deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, chief whip K Suresh and whip Mohamed Jawed submitted the notice to Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh on behalf of several opposition parties, including the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the DMK.

The TMC MPs, however, did not sign the notice and were not a party to it.

The opposition leaders said the move followed consultations within the INDIA bloc and carried the signatures of 100 Members of Parliament. They claimed the proposed motion had the backing of several parties, including the Congress, Samajwadi Party, DMK, Left parties, RJD, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP), among others.

Related news: Lok Sabha Speaker Birla responds to Opposition's no-confidence notice against him

“We, the undersigned, hereby give notice of a resolution for the removal of Shri Om Birla from the office of Speaker Lok Sabha, in terms of the provisions of Article 94(c) of the Constitution of India, because of the blatantly partisan manner in which he has been conducting the business of the Lok Sabha,” the notice said, according to sources.

On several occasions, leaders of opposition parties have just not been allowed to speak, which is their basic democratic right in Parliament, the notice said.

The notice also cited that on February 2, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, was not allowed to complete his speech on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address. This is not an isolated instance. The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha is almost invariably not allowed to speak, it claimed.

On February 3, eight opposition MPs were “arbitrarily suspended” for the entire Budget session and are being penalised merely for exercising their democratic rights, the notice said.

The notice also referred to Birla's remarks that he had “concrete information” that many Congress members might move towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi's seat and carry out “some unexpected act” as a result of which he had requested him not to come to the House to reply to the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address.

“The aforementioned remarks cast blatantly false allegations against the members of the Indian National Congress and are derogatory in nature. The Speaker, who is required to be the custodian of the Rules of Procedure and the norms of parliamentary decorum, chose the floor of the House to make such statements, which is indicative of an abuse of this constitutional office,” the notice said.

According to Congress leaders, the decision to move the notice was finalised earlier on Monday at a meeting held at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. The meeting reviewed recent developments in Parliament and what the Opposition described as a pattern of selective interventions by the Chair that favoured the ruling side.

The Opposition further alleged that the Speaker’s conduct during the Motion of Thanks debate had crossed established norms, particularly in denying the Leader of the Opposition a chance to respond, while allowing members of the Treasury benches to speak at length. — with PTI inputs