Opposition seeks Birla’s removal as LS Speaker; he steps aside temporarily

NEW DELHI, Feb 10: Opposition parties on Tuesday put in motion the process to oust Om Birla as Lok Sabha speaker, alleging that he had acted in a “blatantly partisan” manner in the House and prompting him to step aside from chairing the proceedings till the matter is settled.
Congress’ deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, chief whip K Suresh and whip Mohamed Jawed submitted the notice under Article 94C of the Constitution to Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh on behalf of several opposition parties, including the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the DMK.
The opposition also accused the speaker of making certain false claims against the Congress members when he spoke of some “unexpected action” in the Lok Sabha and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to come to the House to reply to the debate in the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address.
Lok Sabha secretariat officials said Birla, upholding the highest standards of morality, has decided not to sit in the Speaker’s chair until the no-confidence motion moved against him is settled.
The officials said the no-confidence motion against the speaker was likely to be taken up on March 9, when the House reassembles after the recess to examine budgetary proposals.
Article 94C of the Constitution deals with provisions for the removal of the speaker or the deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Article 96 of the Constitution gives the speaker an opportunity to defend himself or herself in the House.
The speaker can cast his vote when the motion for his removal is moved in the House. But he cannot cast his vote in case of a tie.
The Lok Sabha functioned smoothly on Tuesday after a week full of repeated disruptions. The House took up the discussion on the General Budget, with the proceedings being conducted by the panel of chairpersons.
Opposition leaders said the notice to move the no-confidence motion was signed by at least 118 MPs, including those of the Congress, DMK, Samajwadi Party, Left parties and the RJD. Shiv Sena-UBT and NCP-SP have also extended their support to the notice against the speaker but their MPs could not sign it.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) is not a signatory to the notice. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has also not signed the notice, sources said.
The notice was submitted soon after 1 pm, after the opposition members held a last meeting with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju but their issues remained unresolved.
“We, the undersigned, hereby give notice of a resolution for the removal of Shri Om Birla from the office of Speaker Lok Sabha, in terms of the provisions of Article 94(c) of the Constitution of India, because of the blatantly partisan manner in which he has been conducting the business of the Lok Sabha,” the notice said.
The BJP slammed the opposition for submitting a notice to remove Birla from office.
BJP national spokesman Sambit Patra said the time has come for India to “impeach” Rahul Gandhi and the Congress from politics.
“Those who have been impeached of their consciousness are the ones who want to impeach all the constitutional posts of India,” Patra told reporters when asked about the opposition’s move.
Article 96 of the Constitution bars a speaker or a deputy speaker from presiding over the House sitting while a resolution for his removal from office is under consideration.
Three Lok Sabha speakers â?” G V Mavlankar (1954), Hukam Singh (1966) and Balram Jakhar (1987) â?” had faced no-confidence motions in the past, which were rejected.
On several occasions, leaders of opposition parties have just not been allowed to speak, which is their basic democratic right in Parliament, the notice said.
The notice said that on February 2, Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to complete his speech on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address. This is not an isolated instance. The leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha is almost invariably not allowed to speak, it claimed.
On February 3, eight opposition MPs were “arbitrarily suspended” for the entire Budget session and are being penalised merely for exercising their democratic rights, the notice said.
On February 4, a BJP MP was permitted to make “wholly objectionable and personalised attacks” on two former prime ministers without being reprimanded even once for disregarding established conventions and norms of propriety, it said, in an apparent reference to Nishikant Dubey’s remarks.
“In spite of our request, no action has been taken against this particular MP, who is a habitual offender,” they said.
The notice also referred to Birla’s remarks that he had “concrete information” that many Congress members might move towards Prime Minister Modi’s seat and carry out “some unexpected act” as a result of which he had requested him not to come to the House to reply to the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address.
The BJP also released a video of the happenings inside the Lok Sabha on February 4, when women MPs of the Congress had surrounded the prime minister’s seat, raising slogans and carrying banners on the issue of former Army chief M M Naravane’s unpublished book. (PTI)