'Speaker's hands tied by Modi govt': Opposition slams Om Birla during debate on resolution seeking his removal

Attacking the Modi government over "completely surrender" before the United States, Venugopal said the country's economic integrity was "compromised", and economic sovereignty was "surrendered".

Opposition put Speaker Om Birla under fire for the second consecutive day on Wednesday during the discussion of a resolution seeking his removal as Lok Sabha Speaker, with senior Congress MP KC Venugopal claiming that his hands were tied by the Modi government and forced to act as per ruling BJP's wishes.

Participating in the debate, Venugopal said it raises "serious concerns" when the Chair "stops being impartial and acts as the chief" of the ruling party, as he criticised Birla for making a claim against the women MPs that he had "concrete information" about some Congress MPs planning to carry out an "unexpected act" by approaching the spot where Prime Minister Narendra Modi sits.

Venugopal called Birla's remarks "very defamatory" and a "government-created escape route" to justify Modi's absence from Parliament during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President last month.

His remarks immediately attracted a strong reaction from Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju who said the Speaker was not present to defend himself and warned that if CCTV footage of Congress MPs' protest in Birla's office was released, the whole world would be ashamed of their behaviour.

"Personally, Om Birla may be ok. But his hands are tied," Venugopal claimed while saying that ruling BJP MPs are praising Jawaharlal Nehru during the debate but only last month, they were attacking.

"Just wait. One day you will praise Rahul Gandhi too," he said, as the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha who was sitting near him smiled.

Attacking the Modi government over "completely surrender" before the United States, he said the country's economic integrity was "compromised", and economic sovereignty was "surrendered" while raising concerns about the announcement from the United States 'allowing' India to purchase Russian oil for 30 days.

"Who is America to dictate what we should do with Russia? Isn't it a surrender? The US is blackmailing India. The government did not utter a single word. This was the issue Rahul Gandhi wanted to raise, but the Speaker stopped him," he said adding that the no-confidence motion was introduced to protect the fundamental rights of MPs, even though the Opposition knew the numbers were not in their favour.

Claiming that "hardly any democracy is left" in Parliament, Trinamool Congress' Sayani Ghosh alleged that Parliament has been converted into an advertising platform while the voice of the opposition members has been "curbed". She claimed MPs have been forced to fight for their own rights in the House.

She said the fight against the Speaker is nothing personal but the question is about impartiality and dignity. "There is hardly any democracy left in Parliament. Our opinions are thrashed. How can we fight for the people when we are fighting for our own rights?" she said.

"You can feed your ego but can't stop the US President advising you. Don't make this Parliament into a party office," she said.

Muslim League MP ET Mohammed Basheer alleged that the freedom of speech of the MPs has been "denied" while calling the suspension of MPs a "condemnable thing".

"You are dictating to opposition. You are misusing your rights. Opposition is silenced. An introspection is required as law-making has been made a mockery," he added.