Oppn Plans No Trust Vote Against Lok Sabha Speaker

*Motion under Article 94(c); needs 100 MPs’ signatures

New Delhi: The standoff between the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Opposition escalated on Monday with Opposition parties deciding to move a resolution seeking the removal of Speaker Om Birla, citing denial of opportunity to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to speak in the House.

The decision to move a no-confidence resolution against the Speaker under Article 94(c) of the Constitution was taken at a meeting of Opposition leaders held in the chamber of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Leaders from the TMC, Left parties, DMK, Samajwadi Party, RJD, Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and RSP attended the meeting. The resolution will require signatures of at least 100 Lok Sabha members.

The impasse continued even after Rahul Gandhi met the Speaker in his chamber, seeking permission to raise issues linked to former Army chief Gen (retd) M.M. Naravane’s book. The House witnessed repeated disruptions and was adjourned for the day after multiple suspensions.

This will be the fourth instance of a no-confidence notice being moved against a sitting Lok Sabha Speaker. Earlier Speakers who faced such motions include M.V. Malavankar, Hukum Singh and Balram Jakhar, all of whom survived the challenges.

Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, DMK leader T.R. Baalu and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, met the Speaker earlier in the day. After the meeting, Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi avoided replying to the Motion of Thanks out of fear of issues being raised by the Opposition.

Separately, Congress women MPs wrote to the Speaker accusing him of making “grave allegations” against them under pressure from the ruling party over the Prime Minister’s absence from the House during the Motion of Thanks debate. The letter followed the Speaker’s statement that he had “concrete information” suggesting that some Congress MPs could attempt an “unexpected act”, prompting him to advise the Prime Minister not to attend the sitting.

Speaking to reporters, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra claimed that the Speaker was functioning under pressure.

The Lok Sabha was adjourned twice during the morning session amid Congress demands that Rahul Gandhi be allowed to speak. Although the Speaker assured members that everyone would get an opportunity after Question Hour, protests continued, leading to adjournment till noon.

At noon, when Krishna Prasad Tenneti was in the Chair, the House was again adjourned after Congress member Shashi Tharoor declined to speak on the Budget, insisting that the LoP be allowed to speak first. A similar situation arose when the House reconvened at 2 pm under the chairmanship of Sandhya Ray, with disagreement over procedure leading to another adjournment.

Rahul Gandhi told the House that an understanding had been reached with the Speaker allowing him to raise certain issues before the Budget discussion. However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju denied the existence of any such agreement, saying any discussion involving the Speaker required his presence in the House. With no consensus, proceedings were adjourned for the day.

Later, Shashi Tharoor told reporters that both his microphone and Rahul Gandhi’s microphone were switched off. He said long-standing parliamentary conventions were being violated by denying the LoP the first opportunity to speak.

In their letter, Congress women MPs described the denial of opportunity to the LoP as “unprecedented and indefensible” and questioned the suspension of eight MPs. They also objected to BJP MP Nishikant Dubey being allowed to speak in what they termed “vulgar and obscene” language about former Prime Ministers. The MPs said the Speaker’s actions undermined the dignity and neutrality of the Chair.