New Delhi, Feb 9: The opposition is considering giving a notice for moving a resolution to remove Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla from office for disallowing Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders from speaking in the House on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, as well as for the suspension of eight MPs.
At the same time, Gandhi, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, and some others met Birla on Monday afternoon to work out a solution to end the stalemate, as the House has not been functioning properly ever since the former Congress chief was not allowed to speak on the India-China issue last week.
Sources said a notice for resolution in this matter would be given in the Lok Sabha soon, and signatures of MPs are being procured.
As many as 103 MPs, including those from the Congress, DMK and Samajwadi Party, had already signed a notice for moving the resolution, the sources said, adding a final decision on when to give the notice against the Speaker would be taken on Tuesday.
They added that a notice for the resolution is likely to be given under Article 94-C of the Constitution to the Lok Sabha secretary general, and over 100 opposition MPs have already signed it. However, the TMC is keen on taking up the SIR issue more vigorously, while the Samajwadi Party wants to highlight the alleged insult of Malwa queen Ahilyabai Holkar.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, however, said that in a parliamentary democracy, the opposition may bring the resolution, but they don’t have the numbers.
The notice is being given to move a resolution for the removal of the Speaker for disallowing the leader of the opposition from speaking in the House on the motion of thanks, for not initiating action against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey for his unsubstantiated charges against women MPs of the Congress, and suspension of eight opposition MPs, the sources said.
Rahul Gandhi, alongwith TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee, Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav and DMK’s T R Baalu, met Birla soon after the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day on Monday, to work out a solution and end the stalemate.
During the talks, the leaders are learnt to have raised various points on why the opposition was protesting in the House. Gandhi also told the Speaker that they were ready for a discussion, provided he was allowed to speak.
The Congress and other opposition leaders are now awaiting the final decision of Speaker Om Birla, after he is learnt to have told the opposition leaders during the meeting that he would get back to them after speaking to the government side, the sources said.
During the meeting, which lasted a few minutes, Gandhi and other leaders apprised the Speaker about the issues they wanted to raise in the House.
Sources said Gandhi told the Speaker that he wanted to raise the issue of suspension of eight Congress MPs and other matters relating to Parliament, including the charges made against the women MPs. They urged the Speaker to revoke the suspension of eight MPs to end the stalemate.
The Lok Sabha has not been functioning properly ever since Gandhi was not allowed to speak on February 2. The Rajya Sabha started the discussion on the Union Budget for 2026-27.
After the meeting with Lok Sabha speaker, Gandhi claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not come to the lower House to reply to the discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address as he was “scared” of former army chief MM Naravane’s unpublished memoir.
The Leader of Opposition dared those claiming there was a threat to the prime minister from MPs last Thursday to “file an FIR” against anyone threatening Modi.
Gandhi said the opposition is quite keen that the discussion happens. He claimed the government was scared of having a discussion on the Budget because of the India-US deal, the way it was done, and its impact on farmers. (PTI)
