Always ensured every member could express views under rules, says Speaker Om Birla

A day after the Opposition’s no-confidence vote against him was thrown down, Om Birla took back the Speaker’s seat in the Lok Sabha today. Speaking to the House, Birla refuted claims of bias, stating, “A few accused me of stopping some MPs from speaking in Parliament. But, I want to clarify that I always allow all MPs to speak, but under rules and regulations.”

Amidst boisterous demonstrations and chanting, Jagadambika Pal, the House’s then-president, declared the motion’s defeat on Wednesday. The proposal was rejected by a voice vote as the disturbances persisted, despite Pal’s pleas for the Opposition to return to their seats for a formal division.

“Let us conduct the proceedings of this Lok Sabha according to the rules. These regulations are the same for everyone, for the Opposition and the Government alike,” he said  today.

Gaurav Gogoi, the deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, filed the notice of removal on February 10, citing Article 94(c) of the Constitution. Birla decided to take a moral stance after the action and abstain from House sessions till the motion was decided. Although there is no rule prohibiting a Speaker from presiding over other matters at this time, Birla allegedly believed it was improper to do so while his credibility was being called into doubt.

“I always tried to run this house in an unbiased manner and according to the rules of the house.  I immediately decided that I should not be part of the proceedings when the notice against me was served by opposition,” he said while addressing the House today. 

After Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi was barred from speaking in the Lok Sabha when he attempted to quote passages from the autobiography of former Army chief General MM Naravane, the notice for Birla’s removal was filed. The book had not been released, according to the Treasury Benches.

The decision to ban eight Opposition MPs for the duration of the Budget Session and permit a BJP MP to quote books while criticizing two past Congress prime ministers also infuriated the opposition. The notice also cited Birla’s comments on February 5, in which he said he had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to skip the House in order to prevent a potential “unpleasant incident” and accused Opposition MPs of acting in an unprecedented way.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah defended the Speaker on Wednesday, calling the no-confidence resolution “unfortunate.” He claimed that the Speaker acts as the House’s impartial guardian.