Speaker Birla is a 'gentleman' but acting under govt 'pressure': Opposition MPs on no-confidence motion

New Delhi: Opposition members in Lok Sabha on Tuesday said that they want Speaker Om Birla to conduct the House proceedings "fairly" and without succumbing to "pressure" from the government, while the ruling NDA strongly defended his conduct, stressing that he was impartial and treated both sides of the aisle equally.

Participating in the debate on the resolution moved by them for the removal of Birla from the Speaker's post, opposition MPs, including DMK leader T R Baalu, praised Birla as a "gentleman" but lamented his "harsh" steps against the opposition, prompting the ruling alliance to claim that the speaker had acted only to check their "anarchic" behaviour.

Baalu said he has great personal regard for the speaker but wants him to take corrective steps in his conduct.

"He is such a gentleman, but I don't know what went wrong with him. He has suspended so many MPs in the last seven years. But why does he have to take such harsh steps? Our duty is to see that some corrective measures are taken. I want to impress upon the speaker to act fairly," he said.

TDP member Lavu Srikrishna Devarayalu praised Birla for the way he has been conducting the House ever since he first became the speaker in 2019, especially during the COVID pandemic.

He said Birla has given maximum time to the new members and productivity in the Lok Sabha was highest under him.

Devarayalu claimed that the no-confidence motion was brought "not to succeed but to create spectacular headlines".

He said that when the motion against Birla was still to be decided, the opposition wanted to discuss the West Asia situation and termed such conduct as "anarchic".

The TDP MP claimed that the opposition has always been at loggerheads with the government on one issue or another.

"Why so much resentment and frustration? Why does the opposition want to disrupt the House, create anarchy? Is it only because they lost elections?" he asked.

Devarayalu said that in 2014, when the Congress-led UPA was in power, the TDP and other opposition members did not bring a no-confidence motion against the then speaker, even though 18 MPs were suspended when the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation bill was brought.

He said when the Andhra bifurcation bill was brought, the live telecast of Lok Sabha TV was stopped. "It was nothing but anarchy." "On 14th February 2014, the democracy was actually trampled. But they are now preaching to us how the House should be conducted. This is hypocrisy. We don't create anarchy and then blame the Speaker," he said.

The TDP also demanded a special discussion on the "dark day" of February 14, 2014, when the Andhra Pradesh bifurcation bill was adopted.

JD(U) leader and Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh said the no-confidence motion was nothing but an attempt to keep the speaker under pressure.

He said this House makes laws for 140 crore people of the country, and if someone tries to defame the process and creates differences, it is not just an insult to this House but also hurts the sentiment of the 140 crore people.

Singh said when the custodian of the House tries to control certain behaviours of some members, including ruling party members and ministers, all accept that.

"To maintain the decorum and dignity of the House, the Speaker has to control unruly members. This is nothing wrong," he said.

The minister alleged that more than half of the time, the opposition members shout and stage protests in the House.

"The negative behaviour of the opposition weakens the democratic process. The House will not function at your (opposition) whims. Every day, Rs 9 crore is spent on the functioning of Parliament," he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) member Arvind Sawant said Birla is a "gentleman" and they respect him, but there is "pressure" on him to act against the opposition.

"Please introspect why we had to bring the no-confidence motion. The House can't function on anyone's whims. We respect his authority. But he should not conduct himself under pressure and compromise independence," he said.

Sawant said the House should function within rules and regulations as this is the highest temple of democracy.

He also questioned why no deputy speaker has been appointed so far.