Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla on Monday met top government and opposition leaders on Monday as efforts to break a logjam that has paralysed the Lower House since last week gathered pace, even as some Congress parliamentarians hinted they were considering bringing a no-confidence motion against him.
The developments – which came after an abrupt adjournment earlier in the day when Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi tried to speak for a few minutes – might see the Lok Sabha finally commencing the debate on the Union Budget.
Rahul Gandhi, Trinamool Congress’s Abhishek Banerjee, Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s TR Baalu, among others, met Birla soon after the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day, to work out a solution and end the stalemate. Hours later, Birla also met Union home minister Amit Shah.
According to a key Lok Sabha functionary, the Opposition’s discussions with Birla were aimed at restoring normalcy and giving Gandhi a chance to speak in the House – a key demand of the Opposition. Some leaders also urged Birla to revoke the suspension of eight MPs effected last week. The Lok Sabha functionary added that Birla mentioned that the Opposition has a right to bring a no-confidence motion against him.
According to three Opposition leaders, the idea to bring a no-confidence motion against Birla was discussed at the Opposition’s floor leaders meeting on Monday morning and Congress leader KC Venugopal mooted the plan.
“In the meeting, Venugopal argued that the no-confidence motion can be brought on three grounds. The LoP is not being allowed to speak while false allegations have been made against Congress’ women MPs that they were planning to attack the PM. Also, Opposition MPs are not allowed to speak but BJP MPs are allowed to make defamatory statements on Congress stalwarts such as Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi,” a Congress leader said, requesting anonymity.
If the motion is brought, the Samajwadi Party and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) might back it, but the Trinamool Congress, the third-largest party in Parliament, did not state its position.
Opposition leaders said that the notice was signed by 103 MPs. Any no-confidence notice against the speaker requires at least 100 signatures.
“The speaker is making allegations against the Congress women MPs, but there is no space for the Opposition in this House at all and they are not even allowed to speak. This kind of attitude never happened before. Wait for action,” Venugopal said.
Lok Sabha officials refused to comment and pointed out that no such notice was received.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju hit back. “It doesn’t matter. They can bring the motion, but they don’t have the numbers. They insulted the institution of the speaker and climbed onto the officials’ tables. We could have asked the speaker to take action. I am not urging the speaker to take any particular action,” he said.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said there was no discussion on the issue with him. “All I know is that there is such an intention, but there is a procedure, and until such a thing is filed, there is no news. All I can say is that some people have been discussing all this,” he said.
SP MP Dimple Yadav said, “Whatever senior INDIA bloc leaders decide, the Opposition will stick to it. The comments of ruling party leaders are never expunged, the mics of Opposition leaders are always cut off.”
After a week-long disruption, the stage was set for the Budget debate in the Lok Sabha on Monday. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman was present to attend the debate, which was scheduled to begin at 12 noon.
Tharoor was set to open the debate but he yielded space to Gandhi. BJP lawmaker Sandhya Ray, who was presiding over the House, sought to know if Gandhi was speaking on the budget.
“An hour ago, I met the speaker and the speaker committed to us that I will be allowed to speak here and raise some points, now you are going back on your words. Am I allowed to speak or not?” Gandhi asked.
Rijiju stood up and said that Gandhi alone couldn’t speak. “If you speak, then some other members will also speak and the government will give a reply.”
Ray insisted she had no notice to raise issues other than the budget and adjourned the House.
Later, Rijiju said, “I had given a commitment to the Congress party in front of the speaker that if Congress agrees to let the House function normally, then we will allow Congress and other parties to speak on how to run the House. I can’t agree to a situation where Rahul Gandhi speaks and makes accusations, creates a ruckus and then does not let others speak. If Congress speaks, then we will allow other members to also speak.”
After the meeting with Birla, the TMC criticised the government.
“The responsibility of running the House lies with the government and we want the House to run. But the Opposition should also be allowed to speak. We have placed an appeal before the competent authority – the speaker of Lok Sabha, and we hope that the House will run… No discussion has taken place (on no-confidence motion) and we have appealed to the speaker to reconsider his decision of suspending 8 MPs,” said Banerjee.
The impasse began last week after Gandhi brought up excerpts from an unpublished book by former army chief general (retireD) MM Naravane on India-China relations. The logjam didn’t even allow, for the first time in 22 years, the prime minister to reply in the Lok Sabha to the debate on the President’s speech, which was passed through a voice vote last Thursday.
That day, Birla also alleged that he had credible information that many Congress MPs “might have reached the PM’s seat and caused some unexpected incidents” when PM Narendra Modi was originally scheduled to speak on Wednesday – and ultimately did not.
The Opposition has rejected these allegations but a Lok Sabha functionary pointed out that from the very commencement of the proceedings, the atmosphere in the chamber deteriorated sharply, giving rise to serious concerns regarding safety, decorum, and the dignity of parliamentary functioning.
“Amid this chaos, several women MPs moved aggressively towards the seat of the Prime Minister, forming a virtual cordon around it. Disturbingly, certain women members further crossed over to the treasury benches carrying banners and placards, adopting an openly confrontational posture.
Subsequently, Opposition Members visited the Speaker’s Chamber, where they made threatening remarks, including statements such as “Let us see what the PM can do.” Such conduct was wholly unbecoming of MPs and further underscored the volatility of the situation prevailing that day,” the functionary added.
The Lok Sabha functionary added that in view of these events, the Speaker had “genuine and well-founded concerns” regarding the safety of the PM and his advice to Modi not to enter the Lok Sabha was “guided solely by the need to ensure the smooth functioning of parliamentary business and to safeguard the dignity and sanctity of the institution.”
With just four days left in the first half of the session, the Lok Sabha stares at a tough schedule to finish the debate and pass the budget, which is a constitutional requirement. Also, after its passage in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman has to reply to the debate in the Rajya Sabha, which will refer the budget back to the Lower House.
An Opposition leader, surprised at the Chair’s decision to adjourn the House till Tuesday, told HT, “The Chair could have adjourned it for half an hour to resolve the issues. Everyone in the House wanted a debate.”