New Delhi: While Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Om Birla who was elected as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha for a second consecutive term on Wednesday (June 26) vowed to run the house in a non-partisan manner, it was only a matter of minutes before he asked opposition MPs–who reminded his constitutional duties as Speaker including the unprecedented suspensions in the Winter Session–to not make political statements, and then went ahead and made a strong political statement condemning the Emergency and the-then Congress government.
Birla, who was the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate for the Speaker’s post against Congress MP K. Suresh, who was the INDIA bloc candidate, was elected by a voice vote. Birla was also the Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha and had presided over the suspension of an unprecedented 100 opposition MPs in the Lower House. Another 46 opposition MPs had been suspended from the Rajya Sabha.
In his congratulatory statement to Birla, leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi reminded him of his role in allowing opposition voices to be heard, a sentiment that was soon echoed in the remarks of other opposition MPs.
“This House represents the voice of India’s people and you are the final arbitrator of the voice. Of course, the government has political power but the opposition also represents the voice of India’s youth and this time, more significantly than the last. The opposition would like to assist you in doing your work and we would like the House to function often and well. It is very important that cooperation must happen based on trust and the voice of the opposition is allowed to be represented in the House,” said Gandhi.
Not just the unprecedented suspensions of opposition MPs, Birla’s tenure as the Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha also saw the Modi government steamrolling through parliament essential legislations. In the absence of the opposition key laws like the three new criminal bills and the telecom bill were passed. During his tenure, former MP Danish Ali faced communal slurs inside the House, while parliament itself saw a security breach.
Samajwadi Party chief and Kannauj MP Akhilesh Yadav, whose party has the third highest number of legislators in the Lok Sabha after the BJP and the Congress said that Birla should ensure that suspensions of MPs is not repeated.
“Our expectation from you is that no voice of an MP should be trampled nor should suspensions happen again that hurt the integrity of the House. Your hook remains on the opposition, but it should also be on the government,” he said.
NCP MP Supriya Sule also reminded Birla of the suspensions and said it should not be repeated.
“In five years, you have done very good work. But when 150 of my colleagues were suspended, we were all saddened. So, it should be an effort to see that you do not think of suspension in the next 5 years. We are always ready for dialogue,” she said.
However, Birla did not take the comments of the opposition MPs too lightly.
In between the opposition MPs speeches, Birla said, “Today is a good day. All political statements that you want to make, you will get many opportunities later.”
Later when NC MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi in his debut speech in the Lok Sabha reminded Birla of the abuses hurled at then BSP MP Danish Ali, Birla was again quick to remind him that it was only the first day of the session.
“From today you neither belong to the BJP nor do you belong to Congress or to Samajwadi. Your only party is the Constitution of India. I hope you will defend the Constitution of India. I hope in this House you are remembered not in how you silenced the opposition but how you made the Treasury benches understand. You will be remembered for how when a Muslim MP was called a terrorist inside this House, how you dealt with that. If a chosen representative is called a terrorist inside the House then Muslims on the streets will also be called so,” said Mehdi.
Birla then interrupted him and said, “Today is only the first day of the session. Please keep your statements for another time. See the proceedings of the House and then comment,” he said.
‘Emergency dark period of democracy’
Things came to a head soon after when in his thanksgiving remarks Birla vowed to remain non-partisan but only moments later went on to give statement condemning the Emergency and the then Congress government,
“I will try to give an opportunity to every member to speak. This House belongs to every member. All views should be reflected in the House. Agreements and disagreements are a strength of our democracy. I hope you will express your disagreements strongly and that the government too includes the suggestions made by the opposition. My efforts will remain to give everyone equal time even if there is one representative from a political party. I have tried in my previous stint to give everyone a chance to speak even those who did not want to speak. I will try to ensure all your voices are expressed in the House and I can run the house in a non-partisan manner,” said Birla in his speech.
In response to opposition MPs who had reminded him of the suspensions in the Winter Session 2023, Birla said storming the well of the House is not part of parliamentary tradition.
“It is not the tradition to storm the well of the house. Disagreements can happen. I never want to act against any member but sometimes I have to take stern decisions. In the 18th Lok Sabha I hope we have high standards of discussions according to the traditions of this House. There should be a difference between sansad ke virodh and sadakh ke virodh (protests in parliament and protests on the streets).
Only moments after this speech, Birla went on to move a resolution marking 50 years of the Emergency.
“25th June 1975 will always be known as a black chapter in the history of India. On this day, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency in the country and attacked the Constitution made by Baba Saheb Ambedkar,” said Birla.
Naming the Congress, Birla said that the-then Congress government trampled democratic principles.
“Emergency was a dark period of our democracy. The then Congress government brought in laws and amendments to trample on citizens’ rights and democratic principles,” he said.
Birla’s statement hitting out at the opposition and particularly the Congress, caused an uproar from opposition benches who chanted slogans. Birla then went on to adjourn the House-the first for the 18th Lok Sabha.
BJP MPs subsequently held a protest outside the parliament demanding an apology from the Congress for the Emergency.
In a letter to the speaker on Thursday, Congress MP K.C. Venugopal said that Birla’s statement on the Emergency was “unprecedented”.
“Making of such a political reference from the Chair is unprecedented in the annals of history of Parliament. This coming from the Chair as one of the ‘first duties’ from a newly elected Speaker assumes even graver proportions,” he wrote.
Meanwhile Birla’s statement found plaudits from Modi who lauded him on X (formerly Twitter) for his statement condemning the Emergency.