Friction amid the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Congress-led Opposition has persisted in the Lok Sabha in the midst of the evolving Budget Session. Subsequent to the presentation of the Budget on February 1, the Lower House failed to function smoothly. In the midst of this escalating standoff, Opposition parties have submitted a notice to the Lok Sabha Secretary General seeking the ouster of Speaker Om Birla from his post. Sources have now revealed that Om Birla has decided not to attend Lok Sabha proceedings pending a decision to the notice.
As per information available,. Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday directed Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh to examine the notice filed by the Opposition regarding his removal. and has urged the Secretary General to review the notice thoroughly and initiate appropriate action as required.
On Tuesday, Opposition parties submitted a notice for moving a resolution to remove Om Birla from the office of Lok Sabha alleging that he had acted in a “blatantly partisan” manner in conducting the business of the House and abused the constitutional office by making “blatantly false” allegations against Congress MPs. Congress’ deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, chief whip K Suresh and whip Mohamed Jawed submitted the notice to Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh on behalf of several opposition parties, including the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the DMK. However, the TMC MPs did not sign the notice and were not a party to it.
About 120 MPs of parties such as the Congress, DMK, Samajwadi Party, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) had already signed a notice for moving the resolution, as per sources. “They the undersigned, hereby give notice of a resolution for the removal of Shri Om Birla from the office of Speaker Lok Sabha, in terms of the provisions of Article 94(c) of the Constitution of India, because of the blatantly partisan manner in which he has been conducting the business of the Lok Sabha.
News Edit KV Raman
