Govt-opposition logjam ends in Lok Sabha
House takes up discussion on Budget, speaker to stay away till no-trust motion settled
New Delhi: Signalling the end of the gridlock between the treasury and the opposition benches, Lok Sabha on Tuesday afternoon took up discussion on the Union Budget, which had been held up for days over the opposition’s demand that Rahul Gandhi be allowed to speak on a variety of issues.
When the House assembled at 2 pm after two adjournments, Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was in the Chair, asked Congress member Shashi Tharoor to initiate the debate and the Thiruvananthapuram MP started speaking on the issue.
In a day of fast-paced developments, the thaw came soon after opposition parties submitted a notice to bring a resolution to remove Om Birla as Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Between 2 PM and 8 PM when the House functioned, members from various parties participated in the debate.
The business advisory committee of the Lok Sabha has allocated 18 hours for the debate with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman likely to respond on Thursday afternoon.
Since February 2, Lok Sabha witnessed unruly scenes and repeated disruptions that led to the suspension of seven Congress and one CPI(M) members for the rest of the Budget session.
Apprehending unpleasant scenes, Birla requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to attend the House last week when he was to respond to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address.
Birla’s claim that Congress members could create unpleasant scenes had further aggravated the stalemate between the government and the opposition.
Due to disruptions, the prime minister could not respond to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address delivered to both the Houses on January 28.
The motion was adopted by a voice vote amid sloganeering by the opposition.
Birla had last week lamented that the disruptions have wasted over 19 hours of House time.
Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker decided to step aside from his role as the presiding officer of the House, hours after the opposition submitted a notice for his removal from office alleging that he had acted in a “blatantly partisan” manner.
Lok Sabha officials said the no-confidence motion moved by the opposition against the speaker was likely to be taken up on March 9, when the House re-assembles after the recess to examine budgetary proposals.
“Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has taken a big decision, upholding the highest standards of morality. He will not sit in the speaker’s chair until the no-confidence motion brought by the opposition is settled,” an official said.
Article 96 of the Constitution bars a speaker or a deputy speaker from presiding over the House sitting while a resolution for his removal from office is under consideration.
The speaker has a constitutional right to defend himself in the House if the resolution is discussed in the Lok Sabha.
Meanwhile, the officials said the speaker directed Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh to examine the notice served by the opposition for moving a resolution to remove him from office and take appropriate action according to rules.
At least 118 opposition members submitted a notice for moving the resolution to remove Birla from office for not allowing Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders to speak in the House on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, as well as for suspending eight MPs.
Congress member and chief whip K Suresh submitted the notice to the Lok Sabha secretariat on behalf of several opposition parties, including his party, Samajwadi Party and DMK.
TMC MPs, however, did not sign the notice.
Three Lok Sabha speakers – G V Mavlankar (1954), Hukam Singh (1966) and Balram Jakhar (1987) – had faced no-confidence motions in the past, which were negatived.
