New Delhi: The Opposition submitted a notice seeking the removal of the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to the Secretary General of the lower house on Tuesday. Birla directed the Secretary General to examine the notice, reports said.
“A total of 118 MPs have signed the notice of no-confidence motion against the Lok Sabha Speaker,” Congress sources told news agency PTI .
The opposition leader alleged that Birla has been conducting the business of the Lok Sabha in a “blatantly partisan manner.” They accused him of not allowing the leaders of Opposition parties to speak in the House.
“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 Opposition’s motion read.
The notice stated that on several occasions, “Leaders of Opposition Parties have just not been allowed to speak, which is their basic democratic right in Parliament.”
The opposition leaders also mentioned four instances to substantiate their claim against Om Birla. These are:
1. On February 2, 2025, Leader of the Opposition in th
e Lok Sabha 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,” the leaders claimed.
2. On February 3, 2025, eight Opposition Members of Parliament were arbitrarily suspended for the entire Budget Session and are being penalised merely for exercising their democratic rights, they said.
3. On February 4, 2025, a Member of Parliament from the Bharatiya Janata Party 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.”
“In spite of our request, no action has been taken against this particular Member of Parliament, who is a habitual offender,” the Opposition alleged.
4. The leaders also objected to Om Birla’s observation after the adoption of the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address through a voice note.
“The aforementioned remarks cast blatantly false allegations against the Members of the Indian National Congress and are derogatory in nature,” the Opposition’s notice read.
It added, “The Speaker, who is required to be the custodian of the Rules of Procedure and the norms of parliamentary decorum, chose the floor of the House to make such statements, which is indicative of an abuse of this constitutional office.”
The Opposition said it was “pained and anguished at the manner in which he [Birla] has consistently prevented Opposition Members of Parliament from raising issues of legitimate public concern.”