Amit Shah likely to reply to debate on no-confidence motion against Om Birla

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to reply to the debate on the no-confidence motion moved by Opposition MPs against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who has been accused of acting in a partisan manner while conducting proceedings of the House

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to reply to the debate on the no-confidence motion moved against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla by Opposition members, who alleged that he had acted in a “blatantly partisan” manner while conducting the proceedings of the House, sources said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju is likely to participate in the discussion on behalf of the government, besides other speakers during the debate, which is expected to take place on Tuesday.

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Shah is likely to reply at the end of the debate on the no-confidence motion moved against Birla, sources said.

The discussion on the no-confidence motion was supposed to be taken up on Monday but it did not happen due to repeated adjournments of the House following protests by the Opposition, which was seeking a debate on the West Asia situation.

The sources said the government is keen to have the discussion on the no-confidence motion moved against Birla as early as possible. He has not been chairing the House ever since a notice was given by 118 Opposition MPs on the motion in the first part of the Budget session.

The motion will be moved by three Congress members — Mohamed Jawed, K Suresh and Mallu Ravi.

The proposed motion questioned the conduct of the Speaker in disallowing the Leader of the Opposition and other opposition leaders to speak and in “making unwarranted allegations against women MPs belonging to the opposition”.

It also referred to the suspension of Opposition MPs for an entire session for raising issues of “public concern and not rebuking ruling party members for making wholly objectionable and derogatory remarks against former PMs”.

It further alleged that the Opposition felt Birla had ceased to maintain “an impartial attitude necessary to command the confidence of all sections of the House” and that in his partisan attitude he was disregarding the rights of members of the House, making pronouncements and giving rulings calculated to affect and undermine such rights.

The Opposition accused that Birla “openly espouses the version of the ruling party on all controversial matters” and that all these acts constitute “a serious danger to the proper functioning of this House and ventilating effectively the felt concerns and grievances of the people and, therefore, resolves that he be removed from his office”.

The Constitution allows the Speaker, in this case Birla, to be present in the House. He can defend himself and vote on the resolution but cannot chair proceedings when the matter is being discussed.

Though rules are silent, he may sit in prominent rows of the treasury benches.

Since he does not have a “division number” like other members, he will not be able to use the automated voting system if the resolution comes up for a vote.

He will have to use a slip to register his vote.

This is not the first time that a no-confidence motion against the chair has been moved by the Opposition. Earlier in 2024, the Opposition moved a similar motion against then Rajya Sabha chairman and vice president Jagdeep Dhankhar.

History also records at least three instances since Independence when a no-confidence motion was moved to remove the Speaker. The first was against the first Lok Sabha Speaker, G V Mavalankar, in 1954, after MP Vigneshwar Misra alleged that the Speaker was not impartial.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described Om Birla as an outstanding Member of Parliament and “excellent” Speaker of the Lok Sabha, praising him for functioning above party lines and carrying everyone along while presiding over the House.

“Om Birla ji is as outstanding a Member of Parliament as he is an excellent Speaker of the Lok Sabha. He is fully dedicated to the Constitution, and he maintains complete allegiance to parliamentary procedures.

“Today, he is not a member of any one side; he is completely above party lines when it comes to ruling side and opposition,” Modi said during his virtual address at the foundation stone laying ceremony of Kota airport.