Parliament Budget session: Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha proceedings resume after adjournment

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha witnessed high political drama on Tuesday as the Opposition moved a resolution seeking the removal of Speaker Om Birla, triggering a heated debate and sharp exchanges between the treasury benches and Opposition leaders during the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament.

The motion, backed by 118 Opposition MPs, accuses the Speaker of displaying “partisan behaviour”, particularly after Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi was allegedly not allowed to speak in the House during previous proceedings.

After more than 50 MPs stood in support of the resolution, BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, who was presiding over the House, granted permission to move the motion. A 10-hour debate has been allocated to discuss the resolution before the House takes it up for voting.

Gogoi vs Amit Shah exchange

The debate quickly turned confrontational when Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi criticised Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, claiming that future parliamentary records would show that Rijiju interrupted the Opposition the most during debates.

“In the future, when research is done on parliamentary records, statistics will show that Kiren Rijiju was the Parliamentary Affairs Minister who interrupted the Opposition the most,” Gogoi said during his speech.

Responding sharply, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that while Rijiju may have interrupted the Opposition frequently, the country had also never seen such an irresponsible Opposition.

“I agree Kiren Rijiju ji has interrupted the most. But we have also never seen such an irresponsible Opposition,” Shah said, drawing loud reactions from both sides of the House.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh slammed Rahul Gandhi, calling him a “visionless” LoP who behaves like an “urban Naxalite” and avoids parliamentary debate.

Questions over who should preside

Before the debate formally began, several Opposition MPs raised questions about who should preside over the proceedings while the Speaker’s removal motion is being debated.

Gogoi cited constitutional provisions and argued that the House itself should decide who presides over the proceedings during such a debate.

AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi also raised procedural issues related to the debate.

Congress MP KC Venugopal also criticised the government for not appointing a Deputy Speaker in the Lok Sabha for several years, calling it a “constitutional vacuum”. He also questioned Jagdambika Pal’s authority to preside over the debate, saying he had been appointed by the Speaker himself.

However, BJP MPs Ravi Shankar Prasad and Nishikant Dubey rejected the Opposition’s objections, calling them “baseless”.

House adjourned amid protests

Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha was briefly adjourned till 2 pm after noisy scenes in the House. Earlier during Question Hour, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan criticised Opposition MPs for raising slogans while he was responding to questions related to government schemes for farmers.

Opposition MPs from the INDIA bloc protested the Election Commission, alleging “vote chori” during elections.

Chouhan said the Opposition’s sloganeering prevented farmers and the public from hearing important discussions.

“There are several matters that concern farmers. The farmers and the nation want to listen, but they do not want the nation to listen. Shame on such politics,” he said.

Budget Session timeline

The Budget Session of Parliament began on January 28. The first part concluded on February 13, while the second part began earlier this month and will continue till April 2. The debate on the motion seeking Speaker Om Birla’s removal is expected to continue later in the day.