Congress submits no-confidence motion notice against Speaker Om Birla

Congress submitted a no-confidence motion notice against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, signed by 118 MPs. The Opposition alleges 'blatantly partisan' conduct and that its leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, were not allowed to speak in the House.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday directed the House Secretary-General to examine the no-confidence motion notice against him and take appropriate action, according to sources.

The Congress today submitted a notice of no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said, "At 1:14 pm today, we submitted a motion for a no-confidence motion against the Speaker under rule 94C rules and procedures."

A total of 118 MPs have signed the notice of no-confidence motion against the Lok Sabha Speaker, according to Congress sources. Sources said Opposition MPs alleged "blatantly partisan" conduct and that leaders of Opposition parties were not allowed to speak.

Reasons Cited in No-Confidence Notice

Sources said the notice of motion of no-confidence cited four incidents against the Speaker, including the Opposition's allegation that Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to speak in the House during the discussion on the motion of Thanks to the President's Address. Gandhi cited General MM Naravane's unpublished memoir to discuss the 2020 standoff against China.

Sources added that the Opposition MPs also flagged the suspension of eight MPs, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey's "objectionable and personalised attacks" against former Prime Ministers and Speaker Om Birla's statement, where he said he had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to come to the House to prevent any unpleasant incident, after receiving information that some Congress MPs could come to the PM's seat and "resort to an unprecedented incident".

Congress MP Manickam Tagore took to social media platform X to state that the Opposition has taken such a step in "extraordinary circumstances." Tagore wrote, "The Opposition has placed its faith in constitutional propriety. While holding the Hon'ble Speaker in personal regard, we are pained and anguished by the consistent denial of opportunities to Opposition MPs to raise issues of public importance. After many years, a no-confidence notice against the Speaker has been moved--an extraordinary step born out of extraordinary circumstances."

Trinamool Congress Suggests Alternative Approach

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress asked the Congress to submit an appeal to Speaker Om Birla before moving a no-confidence motion against him, Abhishek Banerjee said today.

TMC said that the party will sign on the no-confidence motion if the Speaker does not act on the Opposition's appeal within two to three days. Abhishek Banerjee told reporters, "Even yesterday we made it clear that all the TMC MPs will sign the no-confidence motion resolution, but our suggestion to them was that the issues, including suspension of MPs, LoP not being allowed to speak, women MPs being falsely accused and that the Chair is working in a biased manner. We said that firstly, we should write a letter in the form of a protest to the Speaker and the signatures of all opposition MPs should be there, and we should give the Speaker two-to-three days' time. If the Speaker does not take any action on it, then we always have the room to move a no-confidence motion; we have no problem." (ANI)

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