Oppn's no-confidence motion: Speaker Om Birla to stay away from Lok Sabha
text_fields
New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has decided not to attend the proceedings of the House until the no-confidence motion against him is decided, sources close to him said on Tuesday.
Although the Rules of Procedure do not require such a step, Birla has taken the decision voluntarily and will not enter the House, regardless of any attempts by the government or the Opposition to persuade him otherwise, sources added.
According to sources, the motion seeking his removal is likely to be taken up on March 9, the first day of the second part of the Budget Session. As per parliamentary procedure, at least 50 members must rise in support of the notice for the motion to be admitted, after which the Chair may allow a discussion.
Sources indicated that the discussion on the no-confidence motion is expected at the beginning of the second phase of the Budget Session.
On Tuesday, 118 MPs from Opposition parties submitted a notice seeking Birla’s removal, accusing him of partisan conduct in running the House. The notice was submitted on behalf of the Opposition by a Congress MP, alleging that Birla repeatedly denied Opposition leaders, including Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, the opportunity to speak during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address. The suspension of eight Opposition MPs was also cited in the notice.
The Opposition alleged that the Speaker conducted proceedings in a “blatantly partisan manner” and failed to safeguard the democratic rights of Opposition members.
However, the motion is unlikely to succeed numerically. For a resolution removing the Speaker to be carried, it must be supported by more than half of the total strength of the Lok Sabha, which is 543.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, the single largest party, has 240 MPs. Its National Democratic Alliance partners — including the Telugu Desam Party (16 MPs) and the Janata Dal (United) (12 MPs) — give the ruling coalition a comfortable majority, along with support from other regional parties.
In contrast, the Congress leads the Opposition with 99 MPs, followed by the Samajwadi Party (37) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (22), leaving the Opposition well short of the numbers required.
The Trinamool Congress has not signed the motion but suggested alternative forms of protest. Party MP Abhishek Banerjee told media persons in Delhi on Tuesday that the party favours submitting a protest letter to the Speaker and awaiting his response before moving a no-confidence motion.
Given the parliamentary arithmetic, the move is widely viewed as a political signal by the Opposition rather than a serious attempt to remove the Speaker.
While attempts to remove a Speaker have been made in the past, none have ever succeeded.
With IANS inputs