Express views in dignified manner: LS Speaker Om Birla tells lawmakers

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday asked lawmakers to express their views in the House strongly and emotionally but also in a disciplined and dignified manner to "successfully stand the test" as a public representative.

In his inaugural address at the Seventh Commonwealth Parliamentary Association India Region Conference at the UP Legislative Assembly, Birla said the faith of people in democracy has gone up, as the polling percentage in elections after Independence has risen, and so has the responsibility of lawmakers.

"Therefore, the members should put forth their views strongly, emotionally, but in a disciplined and restrained manner while adhering to the traditions of Parliament and in a dignified manner," he said in an apparent reference to the repeated unruly behaviour of lawmakers inside legislatures.

In a democracy, elected representatives act as a bridge between the government and the people and thus "it becomes our moral responsibility" to successfully stand the test as a public representative, he emphasised.

"Our faith in democracy in very deep-rooted. Democracy is the soul of our nation. As far as faith in democracy is concerned, India is leading the world," Birla said.

"India is a country where different religions, castes, languages, dialects exist. Unity in diversity has been the symbol of our country. Hence, our parliamentary traditions have always remained 'jeevant' (alive) and active," he said.

He also praised Lucknow's culture and heritage and paid tributes to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He also lauded the role of Uttar Pradesh for its contribution in the freedom struggle, strengthening the parliamentary democracy, and for giving the maximum prime ministers to the country.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is composed of over 180 branches formed in Legislatures of Commonwealth countries enjoying parliamentary democracy.

All the CPA branches are geographically grouped into nine Commonwealth regions. The CPA India region, earlier a part of CPA Asia region, became an independent region in September 2004.

The India Region of CPA consists of the India Union Branch (Parliament) and 30 states/union territories branches. Such conferences of CPA India Region are held once in two years and the 6th conference was held in 2017 in Patna. This year's conference is being attended by about 100 delegates.

Madhya Pradesh Governor Lal Ji Tandon, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Speaker of UP Legislative Assembly Hriday Narayan Dixit and Chairman of UP Legislative Council Ramesh Yadav also spoke at the programme.