New Delhi [India], March 11 : Opposition and NDA members traded charges in Lok Sabha on Tuesday during the no-confidence motion against Speaker Om Birla with Congress members alleging that Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to raise his points during the debate on motion of thanks to the President's Address as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members rejected the allegations and recalled the contributions of the Speaker in favour of members.
The motion was moved by Congress MP Mohammad Jawed, with more than 50 MPs standing in support of the resolution. BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, who was in the Chair, granted leave to move the motion and announced that 10 hours had been allotted for debate, and asked MPs to stick to the resolution. He said that the Speaker was generous with the permissions and procedure for the Opposition resolution.
A total of 118 Opposition MPs signed the resolution, alleging "partisan behaviour" by the Speaker.
The debate began with sharp exchanges over procedure, including objections from AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi and Congres MP KC Venugopal who said that the House should elect a member who would preside over the debate. They questioned how choice had been made as to who will be in the Chair from the panel of Chairpersons.
However, BJP leaders rejected these objections. Former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and BJP MP Nishikant Dubey termed the Opposition's arguments "baseless".
Initiating the debate, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said the resolution was meant to safeguard parliamentary dignity and was not driven by personal animosity.
"This resolution has been brought as a responsibility to protect the dignity of the House, not personally against Om Birla," Gogoi said.
He also took a swipe at Rijiju, remarking that parliamentary records would show the minister frequently interrupting Opposition members.
"In future, when research is done on parliamentary records and transcripts, statistics will show that Kiren Rijiju was the Parliamentary Affairs Minister who interrupted the Opposition the most," he said.
Gogoi said that part of the Motion states that the Speaker of the Lok Sabha "has ceased to maintain the impartial attitude necessary to command the confidence of all sections of the House; that, in his partisan conduct, he disregards the rights of Members and makes pronouncements and rulings calculated to affect and undermine those rights; and that he espouses the version of the ruling party on controversial matters".
"This concern became evident in the manner in which the Honourable Speaker presided over the House on February 2, when the Leader of the Opposition was speaking. The expectation in any democracy is that the Chair remains neutral and protects the right of every Member to speak. Instead, the Leader of the Opposition was repeatedly interrupted whenever he raised issues of public importance. The same happened on February 9 with Shri Shashi Tharoor," he said.
"Today, whenever leaders from the Congress, TMC, Samajwadi Party, and other Opposition parties rise to criticise the government on ideological grounds or policies, they are frequently prevented from speaking. This undermines the very spirit of parliamentary democracy. As our first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru ji once said, the Speaker represents the dignity and freedom of the House. Because the House represents the nation, the Speaker becomes the symbol of the nation's freedom and liberty. But what are we witnessing today? The Leader of the Opposition is forced to plead for the right to speak while microphones are switched off. Is this the parliamentary tradition we wish to uphold?" he asked.
Gogoi said that the Speaker advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to attend the Motion of Thanks reply, citing information that certain women MPs intended to surround the Prime Minister's chair and create an unexpected situation. "Many women members of the Opposition have also faced gender bias when they attempt to raise their voices in this House," he alleged.
In his remarks, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju targeted Congres leader Rahul Gandhi and said he has "no cure" if one believes themselves to be above the Speaker in the House.
"When you look at Constitution, and the rules of the house, no one has challenged any decision of the Speaker. That day I was upset for the fact that the Opposition MP said that 'I do not need permission from anyone to speak in Parliament', this is on record. 'This is my right to speak in Parliament', our Leader of Opposition said this. So I was thinking, there are many senior members in Congress, why did they not explain that in this House, PM, minister, LoP can be present but one needs permission from speaker to speak," Rijiju said.
He suggested that Congress could have chosen Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as its leader in the House.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hit back at Rijiju and said Rahul Gandhi makes fearless attack on the government on issues concerning people.
"There is only one person in the country who has not bowed down before them in the last 12 years. It is the Leader of the Opposition. They cannot digest the truth he speaks," she said.
TMC MP Mahua Moitra criticised some decisions of Speaker including suspension in the past of opposition MPs "over their demands".
The debate remained inconclusive. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to take part in the debate on Wednesday.