These days, ruckus is often seen in the Lok Sabha during the proceedings of the House. There is a continuous exchange of words between the government and the opposition on various issues, due to which the functioning of the House is not running properly. Meanwhile, Congress has given a notice to remove Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla from his post on February 10. This notice has been signed by 120 MPs of the opposition. These also include big parties like Samajwadi Party and DMK.
However, Mamata Banerjee’s party Trinamool Congress (TMC) has not yet stated its clear stand on this issue. The opposition alleges that they are being discriminated against during the proceedings of the House. Congress leader Manickam Tagore says that this step has been taken out of compulsion because opposition MPs are not being given a chance to raise issues related to the public.
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What is the real reason for the dispute?
The confrontation between the government and the opposition started during the budget session, when Rahul Gandhi was referring to the book of former Army Chief General Naravane in the House. The Speaker stopped him from doing so, after which there was a lot of uproar in the House. The controversy escalated further when the Speaker suspended 8 Congress MPs.
Another major issue arose when the speaker reportedly cited security reasons before the Prime Minister’s speech on February 4. Rahul Gandhi rejected this outright and said that the Prime Minister was afraid of facing the truth, that is why he did not come to the House.
What does the rule say?
The Speaker of the Lok Sabha can be removed under Article 94C of the Constitution but its process is quite strict. Notice has to be given at least 14 days before bringing the motion in the House. It is necessary for at least 50 MPs to stand up in the House and support this proposal, only then it can be discussed.
It is all a game of majority because to remove the Speaker, majority of the sitting members of the House is required.
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Is Om Birla’s chair in danger?
If we look at the figures, it is almost certain that this proposal will fail. In the 543-member Lok Sabha, BJP and NDA have 293 seats while the opposition ‘India’ alliance has 238 seats. The government has the majority figure, hence this proposal seems to be more of a way to corner the government and register its opposition than to remove the Speaker.
When has this happened in history?
This has rarely happened in the history of the Indian Parliament when a no-confidence motion has been brought against the Speaker. First of all, in 1954, the first Lok Sabha Speaker G.V. Such a proposal was brought against Mavalankar. Then in 1966 against Sardar Hukam Singh and later in 1987 against Balram Jakhar. Interestingly, none of these proposals have been successful so far.
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