TMC won’t sign no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla: Sources

New Delhi: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) will not support a no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, initiated by the Congress, sources said on Tuesday.

Congress MPs have signed a notice for the no-confidence motion against the Speaker. However, sources said the party’s next steps would depend on whether Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi is allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha.

According to the sources, if Gandhi continues to be denied the opportunity to speak, the Congress plans to move ahead with the no-confidence motion. If he is allowed to address the House, the party is likely to hold back the move.

The proposed motion has received support from the Samajwadi Party and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Sources said the Congress has sufficient numbers to submit the notice within the constitutional timeframe, even if one or two opposition parties do not back it.

The developments come amid allegations by the Opposition that Rahul Gandhi was repeatedly prevented from speaking in the Lok Sabha during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address.

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Gandhi had sought to cite excerpts from an unpublished memoir by former Army chief General MM Naravane while speaking on the 2020 standoff with China. Speaker Om Birla ruled that unpublished literature could not be cited in the House and asked Gandhi not to refer to it.

Last week, Speaker Birla said he had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to attend the House on a particular day to avoid any “unpleasant incident”, claiming he had received information that some Congress MPs might approach the Prime Minister’s seat and create an unprecedented situation.

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Meanwhile, women MPs from the Congress on Monday wrote to the Speaker, accusing the ruling party of forcing him to make what they described as “false, baseless and defamatory” allegations against them.

In their letter, the MPs said their protests in the House were peaceful and in line with parliamentary norms, but they had faced unprecedented targeting. They also alleged that during the Motion of Thanks debate, Rahul Gandhi was denied the chance to speak for four consecutive days, while a BJP MP was allowed to make “vulgar and obscene” remarks about former Prime Ministers.