Congress submits no-confidence motion against LS Speaker Om Birla

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla

• Congress may submit no-confidence motion against Speaker Om Birla
• Motion depends on whether Rahul Gandhi is allowed to speak in Lok Sabha
• SP and DMK support the motion; TMC yet to declare its position

Did our AI summary help?

The Congress has submitted a no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, ANI reported on February 10. Earlier, the Lower House of the Parliament re-convened before being adjourned till 12pm amid the Opposition's sloganeering.

According to sources cited by ANI, the main opposition party was willing to avoid a motion against Birla if the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was allowed to address the Parliament. The party, however, had said they would move ahead with the motion if the Speaker continued to bar Gandhi from speaking.

According to sources, the motion reportedly has the support of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), while the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has not yet declared its position.

The decision to move a no-confidence motion against Birla comes in the backdrop of the Opposition alleging that the Gandhi was not allowed to speak in the House during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address.

Gandhi cited General MM Naravane's unpublished memoir to discuss the 2020 standoff against China. The Speaker passed a ruling, asking Gandhi not cite unpublished literature.

Addressing the media outside the Parliament on Tuesday, LoP Rahul Gandhi alleged that the publisher was not giving out the truth by claiming that the book had not gone to print as the same had been confirmed by the former Army Chief.

"Here is a tweet from Mr Naravane which says -"Just follow the link to my book". The point I am making is - either Mr Naravane is lying or it is Penguin which is lying. I don't think the former Army chief will lie...Penguin says the book has not been published. But the book is available on Amazon,” said Gandhi.

“I believe Naravane ji has made certain statements in his book which are inconvenient for the Government of India and the Prime Minister of India. Obviously, you have to decide if Penguin or the former Army chief is telling the truth," said the Congress leader.

Penguin India has released a statement saying that the book has not been printed or released and that any copies of the book, currently in circulation, “constitutes an infringement of copyright and must be immediately ceased.”