Rahul Gandhi (File photo)
NEW DELHI: Congress MP and leader of the ppposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has not signed the notice of the no-confidence motion moved by Opposition parties against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, party sources said on Tuesday.According to Congress sources, it is not considered proper in a parliamentary democracy for the Leader of the Opposition to sign a petition seeking the removal of the Speaker, ANI reported. The development comes amid a sharp escalation in tensions between the government and Opposition parties, who have accused the Speaker of conducting House proceedings in a “blatantly partisan manner”.Earlier, Opposition parties submitted a notice of no-confidence against Speaker Om Birla under Article 94(c) of the Constitution. Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said that the notice was formally submitted at 1.14 pm under Rule 94C of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Lok Sabha.Congress said that a total of 118 MPs have signed the notice. The motion has the support of parties including the Congress, Samajwadi Party and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). However, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has not signed the notice so far.In the notice, Opposition MPs alleged that the Speaker has consistently denied them the opportunity to raise issues of public importance. They cited several grievances, including the refusal to allow Rahul Gandhi to speak during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, the suspension of Opposition MPs and what they described as inaction against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey for his remarks against former Prime Ministers.Senior Congress leader KC Venugopal had on Monday signalled imminent action, accusing the Speaker of bias. He said that the Leader of the Opposition was not being allowed to speak in the House despite parliamentary conventions.The Trinamool Congress, while critical of the functioning of the House, suggested that the Opposition should first submit a formal appeal to the Speaker before moving a no-confidence motion. TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee said thay his party would consider supporting the motion if the Speaker failed to act on such an appeal within two to three days.The government, however, downplayed the Opposition’s move. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Opposition does not have the numbers required to pass the resolution and accused it of disrupting parliamentary proceedings.Union Minister and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) MP Chirag Paswan also criticised the motion, calling it “condemnable” and alleging that repeated disruptions by the Opposition had led to the ongoing logjam in the House.Under Article 94(c) of the Constitution, a Speaker can be removed by a resolution passed by the Lok Sabha after a mandatory 14-day notice period. The move comes against the backdrop of repeated adjournments and protests in the Lok Sabha during the Budget Session, with both sides blaming each other for the impasse.
