No-confidence motion against Speaker Om Birla likely to be taken up on March 9 | India News
New Delhi: The no-confidence motion against the Lok Sabha Speaker is likely to take place on March 9, news agency ANI reported citing sources.This comes after opposition parties started the process of ousting them from power Om Birla as Speaker of the Lok Sabha, alleging that he had acted in a “clearly biased” manner in the House and requested him to step down from presiding over the proceedings until the matter was resolved.Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Secretariat officials said Birla has decided not to sit in the Speaker’s chair until the no-confidence motion against him is disposed of.In his motion, the opposition also accused the Speaker of making some false claims against Congress members while making some “unexpected moves” in the Lok Sabha and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to come to the House to reply to the debate on the motion of thanks in the President’s address.Article 94C of the Constitution deals with the provision for removal of Speaker or Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha. Article 96 of the Constitution allows the Speaker to defend himself or herself in the House.The Speaker can vote for his removal if the motion is raised in the House. But if there is a tie, he cannot vote.The Lok Sabha has faced disruption since February 2, after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi referred to a 2020 India-China conflict for quoting from an article based on excerpts from former army chief MM Naravane’s “unpublished memoirs”.On 4 February, Prime Minister Modi was unable to reply to the debate on the motion of thanks due to opposition protests. In an unprecedented move, the motion of thanks was passed on February 5 without the Prime Minister’s customary speech. The Speaker read the motion of thanks to the President for his speech and it was carried by voice vote amid shouts from the opposition members.Birla said he had received specific information that many Congress MPs might do an “unexpected act” by reaching where PM Modi was sitting and, therefore, he asked him not to come to the House to deliver his address.
