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Om Birla
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against the backdrop of continuous opposition protests in Parliament over the NEET paper leak. The government has accused the opposition of attaching the pre-condition of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation before agreeing to a debate. Sources said Shah met Birla after the Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day amid continuous ruckus. Earlier, top opposition leaders including the Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav met Birla. TMC leaders Saugata Roy and Mahua Moitra were also present in the meeting. During the Question Hour, Birla had asked opposition leaders to meet him to decide on the duration and date of the discussion on the NEET paper leak issue. The Monsoon session, which began on Monday, has so far been a washout due to opposition protests over paper leak and alleged theft of Ram temple donations. Police crackdown on Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led protests he
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve on Saturday said Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's decision to approve the merger of six MPs of the party with the rival Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde was illegal, and it will be challenged in the court. As per the tenth schedule of the Constitution, a party can merge with another party but not a group of legislators on their own, he said, adding that the dissident Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs could have formed a separate group. "The approval is illegal. We will challenge the decision," Danve said. Sanjay Nirupam, former MP and a member of the Shinde-led Sena, said the merger did not violate the anti-defection law. "All six MPs parted ways (with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena) within the complete constitutional and legal framework of the anti-defection law. Accordingly, the Lok Sabha Speaker has allowed the merger. We welcome the decision," he said.
Vice President C P Radhakrishnan and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday congratulated Narendra Modi for becoming India's longest continuously serving elected prime minister. Modi, who first assumed office on May 26, 2014, has become the longest continuously serving elected prime minister of India after surpassing the previous record of 4,398 uninterrupted days held by the first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. "This historic milestone is not merely a measure of time in office, but a reflection of a transformative era in our national development journey. "Bharat has witnessed remarkable progress under his visionary leadership across every sphere..." Radhakrishnan posted on social media. The vice president said that while Abraham Lincoln liberated millions from the bondage of slavery, Modi has liberated over 25 crore people from the grip of absolute poverty through inclusive development, bringing hope, opportunity, and dignity to millions of families. Equally significant has b
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday revoked with immediate effect the suspension of eight opposition members, who were suspended from the House on February 3 for "unruly" behaviour, after Congress leader K Suresh requested the House to consider the matter. Following the submissions by several opposition members, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said there was a need to draw a 'Laxman Rekha' for the smooth functioning of the House, which both treasury and opposition benches agreed to. Speaker Om Birla said there is a need to ensure that no placards, posters, photos or AI-generated images are displayed in the House or inside the Parliament complex. Rijiju then moved a motion to remove the suspension of seven Congress MPs and one CPI-M member, which was adopted by a voice vote. The suspended MPs included Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Hibi Eden, C Kiran Kumar Reddy, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Manickam Tagore, Prashant Padole and Dean Kuriakose of the Congress, and S Ventakesan of the ...
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said the House functions strictly under its rules and regulations and will continue to do so, irrespective of whether it is acceptable to any member, and asserted that he would conduct the proceedings with sincerity and fairness. A day after a motion seeking his removal as Speaker was defeated in the House, Birla also said that the Chair does not belong to any one individual but is a symbol of the prestige of the House. Birla said he was grateful to the members of the House for the faith reposed in him during debate and thanked all those who spoke in favour of him as well as against him. "The House has been running with rules and regulations and will continue to function in future, irrespective of whether it is acceptable to any member or not. I will continue to discharge my duty with all sincerity and impartiality," he said amidst the thumping of desks by the treasury bench members. Thursday was the first time Birla came to the House to condu
The resolution seeking the removal of Om Birla as Speaker was on Wednesday defeated in Lok Sabha by a voice vote. Amid protests and sloganeering by the opposition seeking an apology from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Jagdambika Pal, who was in the chair, announced that the no-confidence motion was defeated. Pal urged the opposition to take their seats so that he could put the motion to vote. But as the protests continued, he sought the vote of the House and the resolution was rejected by a voice vote, following which he adjourned the House for the day. Earlier, the home minister hit out at the opposition for bringing the motion for the removal of Birla as Speaker. The opposition objected to certain remarks of Shah and started shouting slogans, disrupted the proceedings and sought an apology from him. Responding to the two-day-long debate, Shah asserted that the House will be run by its own rules and not by the rules of a party. "It is not an ordinary occurrence as after nearly f
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday took up an opposition resolution seeking the removal of Speaker Om Birla from office for his alleged bias towards the ruling party, amid a heated debate on who will preside over the House while the motion is being taken up. Congress legislator Mohammad Jawed read out the notice seeking to move a resolution to remove Birla from office. Besides Jawed, MPs K Suresh and Mallu Ravi had also moved the resolution. As soon as Jawed read out the notice, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi raised a point of order questioning the decision to allow Jagdambika Pal to chair the proceedings as he was appointed to the panel of chairpersons by Speaker Birla. BJP's Nishikant Dubey countered the claim, citing constitutional provisions, law and House rules. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said Owaisi's claim was irrelevant as Pal was competent to preside over the Lok Sabha when the resolution was taken up. Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy said Rijiju should move a mot
The Lok Sabha on Monday could not take up a resolution seeking the removal of Speaker Om Birla amid repeated adjournments, as opposition members demanded a debate on the West Asia situation. The government and the Chair accused the opposition of holding the House proceedings "hostage" to its demands. The House was adjourned for the day shortly after it reassembled at 3 pm, following an earlier adjournment due to relentless protests by opposition members. As proceedings resumed, opposition MPs continued raising slogans. Jagadambika Pal, who was chairing the proceedings, urged them to maintain decorum and allow the House to take up the resolution against Birla. Pal reminded the opposition that the no-confidence resolution against the Speaker was already on the House agenda, and their adjournment notice seeking debate on the West Asia crisis could not be taken up. He accused the opposition of wasting taxpayers' money -- about Rs 9 crore per day -- by holding the House "hostage" to its
The second half of the Budget session of Parliament is set for a stormy start on Monday, with the Lok Sabha scheduled to take up the opposition-sponsored resolution seeking the removal of Speaker Om Birla. The ongoing conflict in West Asia is also likely to figure prominently as the opposition is already attacking the government over its stance towards Iran, the US "waiver" on India's Russian oil purchase, among other issues. Besides, the outcome of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound West Bengal, which led to the deletion of nearly 60 lakh votes, is also expected to cast its shadow on parliamentary proceedings. The no-confidence resolution against Birla was given by several opposition leaders who alleged that he had acted in a "blatantly partisan" manner in the House. They had also accused the speaker of making certain false claims against the Congress members when he spoke of some "unexpected action" in the Lok Sabha and had asked Prime Minister
The Lok Sabha will witness a rare moment most likely on Monday next when Om Birla will not chair proceedings but will be seated amongst the members as the House takes up a notice seeking his removal from office. As Parliament meets for the second phase of the Budget session on March 9, the Lok Sabha is likely to take up the resolution moved by the opposition against Birla's for allegedly acting in a "blatantly partisan" manner. According to the rules and laid down procedure, Birla will get a right to defend himself when the resolution is discussed by the lower house. He will also have the right to vote against the resolution, Constitution expert P D T Achary explained. The expert said while Birla will not chair the proceedings when the resolution comes up before the House, he will be seated in the prominent rows in the Treasury benches. At least 118 opposition members had submitted a notice for moving the resolution to remove Birla from office for not allowing Leader of Opposition
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Tuesday attended the swearing-in ceremony of new Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in Dhaka, and said India stands ready to support Bangladesh's endeavours to build a democratic, progressive and inclusive nation. Separately, the speaker called on the new Bangladesh prime minister and conveyed the wishes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also handed over an invitation from Prime Minister Modi to Rahman to visit India, officials said here. "Glad to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new government of Bangladesh led by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in Dhaka today. India stands ready to support Bangladesh's endeavours to build a democratic, progressive and inclusive nation," Birla posted on X. Bangladesh High Commissioner to India, Riaz Hamidullah, said in a post on X, "Prime Minister Tarique Rahman conveys his greetings to India and PM Narendra Modi to the visiting India Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla at a courtesy meet following the swearing-in
The debate and subsequent vote on the no-confidence motion moved by the opposition against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will be taken up on March 9, when the House reassembles after the recess, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said here on Sunday. Rijiju stated that the second part of the Budget Session, scheduled from March 9 to April 2, will be "interesting" as several "important" legislations and a "critical" bill will be presented in Parliament for debate and passage. He warned that if opposition parties continue their protests as they did during the first part of the session, it would ultimately be detrimental to them. "On March 9 in the Lok Sabha, we will have the debate on the no-confidence motion moved against the speaker. It is the rule to take it up on the first day. There will be a vote following the debate," he told PTI in an interview. The Budget Session began with the president's address to the joint sitting of Parliament on January 28 and went on reces