Opposition’s no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla defeated by voice vote
Opposition’s no-confidence motion against Speaker Om Birla dismissed in Lok Sabha. Amid protests and sloganeering by the opposition seeking an apology from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, who was in the chair, announced that the no-confidence motion has been defeated.
The no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition parties against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was dismissed by voice vote on Wednesday, 11 March.
Amid protests and sloganeering by the opposition seeking an apology from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Jagdambika Pal, who was in the chair, announced that the no-confidence motion was defeated.
Earlier, the home minister hit out at the opposition for bringing the motion for the removal of Birla as Speaker. The opposition objected to certain remarks by Shah, started shouting slogans, disrupted the proceedings, and sought an apology from him.
Shah launched a sharp attack on the Opposition in the Lok Sabha over the no-confidence motion moved against Speaker Om Birla. Shah accused the Opposition of undermining parliamentary traditions and casting unwarranted doubts on the neutrality of the Lok Sabha Chair.
Shah said the move was unprecedented in recent decades and reflected poorly on parliamentary politics and noted that when the Bharatiya Janata Party-ledNational Democratic Alliancewas in the Opposition, it never attempted to bring a no-confidence motion against the Speaker and instead acted as a constructive Opposition.
“While being in Opposition, the BJP-NDA never brought a no-confidence motion against the Lok Sabha Speaker. We worked as a constructive Opposition and preserved the dignity of the Speaker’s post,” Shah said, replying to the two-day debate on the opposition resolution against Birla.
Birla was not present in the House throughout the debate.
Motion defeated by voice vote
Amid the sloganeering, Pal urged the opposition to take their seats so that he could put the motion to a vote. But as the protests continued, he sought a vote in the House, and the resolution was rejected by a voice vote; following that, he adjourned the House for the day.
The no-confidence resolution against Birla was given by several opposition leaders who alleged that he had acted in a "blatantly partisan" manner in the House.
The opposition leaders had also accused the speaker of making certain false claims against Congress members when he spoke of some "unexpected action" in the Lok Sabha and had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to come to the House to reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address.
As many as 118 Opposition MPs signed the motion, alleging "partisan" behaviour by the Speaker after the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, was allegedly not allowed to speak in the House.
Congress MP Mohammad Jawed moved the motion in the house. The Lok Sabha discussed the motion for about two days.
(With PTI inputs)
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