The gridlock in the Lok Sabha continued on Monday as the government refused to budge over the Opposition’s demand that Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi be allowed to address the House before the discussion on the Union Budget.
Opposition floor leaders met at the start of the day’s proceedings and said the House could discuss the Budget if Speaker Om Birla agreed to three things: revoke the suspension of eight Opposition MPs, explain his comments about the Congress’s women MPs planning a protest against Narendra Modi in the House last week that led him to advise the Prime Minister to skip the proceedings, and expunge BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s comments about Congress leaders.
Following the meeting, sources said the Opposition would consider moving a no-confidence motion against the Speaker “if these concerns were not addressed”. A senior Congress leader said while the no-confidence motion had been discussed at the meeting of the floor leaders, “there will be another meeting of all the Opposition leaders before going ahead”.
However, later in the day, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC), two of the largest parties in the INDIA bloc after the Congress, clarified their position, illustrating that the entire Opposition was not on the same page. While SP sources said the party was in favour of the motion, but would wait for the Congress to initiate it, a TMC MP said the party had made no commitment and would wait for directions from its leadership in Kolkata.
“The Congress itself isn’t sure. If they are bringing a motion against Birla, then why did K C Venugopal go and meet the Speaker?” asked the TMC leader.
The MP was referring to the meeting between the Congress general secretary for organisation and Birla to end the stand-off. Following the meeting, Venugopal told The Indian Express, “We have made our position clear to the Speaker. Now they need to inform us of their position on our demands.”
According to former Joint Secretary (Legislation) of the Lok Sabha Secretariat, Ravindra Garimela, a notice of minimum 14 days is required for the motion to be moved under Article 94C of the Constitution and the notice needs just two signatures. The Speaker’s removal is possible only by a resolution passed by the majority of the actual strength of the Lok Sabha, including the absentees.
“At present, this threshold translates into 271 affirmative votes. The framers’ intent is unmistakable: while the Speaker must remain accountable to the House, the office must be insulated from transient political majorities, tactical dissatisfaction, or partisan retaliation. Equally significant is the elaborate procedural architecture that surrounds the exercise of this power. A minimum of 14-day notice is mandatory, and the notice itself must be signed by at least two members of the Lok Sabha. Leave of the House must then be sought, and even at this preliminary stage, at least 50 Members must rise in support before the motion can proceed. The resolution, once admitted, is accorded priority in the business of the House, yet debate is carefully regulated,” said Garimela.
Congress keeps up attacks
Earlier in the day, Venugopal targeted the Speaker, saying Parliament had become one-sided because Birla was “taking sides”.
“Whatever is happening in Parliament is very unfortunate. The LoP acts as a shadow PM. But in this Parliament, when the LoP stands up to say something, the mic gets switched off. In fact, nobody from the Opposition gets time to speak. This Parliament has become a place where the Opposition has no voice,” Venugopal alleged.
Gandhi, meanwhile, continued to target Modi, telling reporters at the Parliament complex that the PM was “scared of the issue of former Army chief M M Naravane’s book”. He said if the PM believed that some women MPs of the Congress posed a threat to him, an FIR should be registered.
The government, he added, was scared of a discussion on the Budget because it did not want to face questions on the US trade deal and its impact on farmers.
“It is clear that the government does not want the discussion on the budget because the trade deal will be a key topic. The trade deal is a ‘trap-deal’ in which they have sold the farmers’ interests. When Rahul Gandhi ji speaks, he will raise this issue, so they do not want the debate at all. The government wants the budget to be passed without any debate,” Congress whip Manickam Tagore told Express.
What happened in the House
After two adjournments, when the Lok Sabha convened at 2 pm, BJP MP Sandhya Ray who was in the Chair asked Congress MP Shashi Tharoor to initiate the debate on the Budget. Tharoor told the Chair that Gandhi, being the LoP, should be allowed to raise certain points before he starts his speech.
Ray then said she had no issues if Gandhi wanted to speak on the Budget and asked him to begin. Gandhi replied that at a meeting between Birla and some Opposition MPs, an agreement was reached that he would be allowed to raise certain points before the Budget discussion, but the Chair was now reneging on its word. Ray said she was not aware of any such pact and that she could not allow anyone to raise any other issue without notice.
At this point, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju intervened, saying there was no such agreement and if the LoP wanted to say something about the Speaker, then Birla should also be present in the House to respond. With neither side budging from its position, Ray adjourned the proceedings for the day.