The Congress has submitted a no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, with 118 MPs signing the notice. The Opposition alleges partisan conduct, citing several incidents. The TMC has suggested an appeal to the Speaker first.
The Congress on Tuesday submitted the no-confidence motion notice 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, Congress sources said. According to sources, the Opposition MPs alleged a “blatantly partisan” conduct, and that leaders of opposition parties were not allowed to speak.
Opposition alleges 'partisan' conduct by Speaker
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 Gandhi cited General MM Naravane's unpublished memoir to discuss the 2020 standoff against China.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".
TMC suggests appeal before moving motion
However, 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 on Tuesday. 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.
TMC MP 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."
"Yesterday, the House was adjourned at 2 pm for the entire day. The House could have been adjourned for 1-2 hours, but it was adjourned till the next day. The Speaker did not come to the Chair today. If you really want to run the House, it should be reflected in your actions, not just your words. TMC MPs want the House to function, but the Speaker has to run the House. If a BJP MP is allowed to speak, the MPs from the Opposition should also be allowed to speak," the TMC leader added. (ANI)
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