Oppn ‘Threat’: Speaker Tells Modi To Skip Lok Sabha

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said he had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to come to the House on Wednesday, citing a possible security concern arising from the conduct of some Opposition members.

Making a statement in the House, the Speaker said he had received “concrete information” that several Congress MPs could carry out an “unexpected act” by approaching the seat where the Prime Minister sits.

"When the Leader of the House was to reply (to the debate on the motion of thanks on the President's address), I had concrete information that many members of the Congress could carry out an unexpected act by reaching the spot where the prime minister sits," Birla said

He said that to prevent any untoward incident and to uphold the dignity of the House, he had asked the Prime Minister to avoid attending the sitting.

“If this incident had taken place, it would have left the democratic traditions of the country in shreds,” Birla said, adding that Modi had agreed to his request.

The Speaker said the conduct of some Opposition members inside the House and later in his office on Wednesday was inappropriate and unprecedented. Describing it as a “black spot”, he warned that if members brought posters and pamphlets into the House, proceedings would not be allowed to function.

"Never in history have political differences been dragged to the House. The conduct of the Opposition members in the office of the Speaker was not appropriate, and in fact it was like a black spot," he said.

The Lok Sabha witnessed disorderly scenes on Wednesday when Opposition MPs, including women members, moved towards the Prime Minister’s seat holding banners ahead of his scheduled reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address. Modi was not present in the House at the time. BJP member P.P. Chaudhary was speaking when Opposition members entered the Well, forcing adjournment of proceedings.

The Prime Minister’s reply to the Motion of Thanks was deferred amid protests by the Opposition over references to former Army chief General M.M. Naravane’s unpublished book and the Chair’s refusal to allow Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi to speak.

Reacting to the Speaker’s remarks, Congress general secretary and Lok Sabha MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra rejected the allegation, calling it “an absolute lie”. Speaking to reporters in the Parliament complex, she said there was no plan to harm the Prime Minister and accused the government of shielding itself behind the Speaker.

“It is an absolute lie. There is no question of anybody raising hands on the prime minister, trying to hurt him or any such thing,” she said.

"But if you are going to allow your members to quote books, talk nonsense, the Opposition benches are going to protest. I am sorry, the Prime Minister is hiding behind the Speaker. They are making the Speaker say all this because yesterday he did not have the guts to come in the House. Because three women were standing before his bench, what nonsense is this," the Congress MP said.

Amid continued protests, the Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address without the customary reply by the Prime Minister. Amendments moved by the opposition were put to vote by the Speaker and rejected. The House was adjourned multiple times during the day due to sloganeering and protests.

Earlier, the Speaker expressed anguish over the behaviour of opposition members, stating that marching towards the treasury benches violated parliamentary decorum.