Congress Submits No-Confidence Motion Against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla Amid Parliament Standoff
PTI
New Delhi: The Indian National Congress on Tuesday submitted a notice of a no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to the Secretary General of the House, escalating tensions between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Opposition during the ongoing Parliament session.
According to reports, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi confirmed that the notice was submitted under Rule 94C of the Rules of Procedure at around 1.14 pm. The move follows a series of confrontations in the House that led to Narendra Modi cancelling his scheduled address in the Lok Sabha last week.
The political flashpoint intensified after Speaker Om Birla said he had concrete information suggesting that some Congress MPs could attempt an “unexpected act” by approaching the Prime Minister’s seat in the House. Citing security and decorum concerns, Birla asked Modi not to attend the sitting. He later said that any such incident would have severely damaged democratic traditions.
According to sources cited in media reports, the proposed vote on the no-confidence motion is expected to focus on three key issues. One of the main objections relates to the Speaker’s decision to disallow Rahul Gandhi from quoting passages from an unpublished book by former Army chief Manoj Mukund Naravane, while permitting BJP MP Nishikant Dubey to read from books critical of the Congress and the Gandhi family.
The motion also flags the suspension of eight Congress MPs, who were barred from attending the remainder of the session. In a letter to the Speaker, Rahul Gandhi alleged that Om Birla had acted at the behest of the government and said denying the Leader of the Opposition the opportunity to speak went against established parliamentary convention.
Gandhi further claimed that while speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, he was directed by the Speaker to authenticate a magazine he intended to cite while raising issues related to the 2020 India-China standoff. The Congress has described these actions as selective and biased, while the government has rejected the allegations.
Our Thoughts
The no-confidence motion against the Lok Sabha Speaker marks a rare and serious escalation in parliamentary confrontation. While Speakers are expected to function above party politics, repeated allegations of bias risk undermining institutional credibility. At the same time, maintaining order and security in the House remains a critical responsibility. How this motion is handled will not only shape the remainder of the session but also set an important precedent for parliamentary conduct and trust between the government and the Opposition.