The Congress on Tuesday submitted a notice of no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to the Secretary General of the Lok Sabha. The notice was submitted by opposition leaders K Suresh and Mohammad Javed. According to sources, the no-confidence motion has been signed by 118 MPs. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) did not take part in the move and is not among the signatories.
"At 1.14 pm today, we submitted notice for no-confidence motion against the Lok Sabha Speaker under Rule 94C of rules and procedures," said Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi.
TMC refuses to support no-confidence motion
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) has refused to support the no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla proposed by the Congress, sources said on Tuesday. According to sources, the TMC has opted out of the opposition's strategy to move a no-confidence motion seeking the removal of the Speaker.
Abhishek Banerjee, TMC MP, said, "We have suggested to Congress to give an appeal to the Speaker on the demands of the INDIA bloc and Congress, and given the Speaker three days to respond on Oppositions appeal. If Congress submits today, then TMC will not sign, and if the Speaker doesn't agree with the opposition appeal, then we are ready to sign no confidence motion."
Govt didn't agree with Opposition demands
According to sources, the stalemate has continued, and the opposition is set to move a no-confidence motion against the Speaker. The government, sources said, did not agree to the four demands raised by the opposition during the meeting.
Earlier, the opposition said they had been informed that a decision on whether Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi would be allowed to speak in the Lok Sabha would be taken by 12:30 pm. Opposition parties added that they will decide on submitting the notice seeking the removal of Speaker Om Birla only after that decision is communicated.
However, the move has found backing from several other opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). A total of 118 opposition MPs from the INDIA bloc, except the Trinamool Congress (TMC), have signed the no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker.
This comes in the backdrop of the Opposition alleging that the Lok Sabha LoP Rahul 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 Gandhi cited General MM Naravane's unpublished memoir to discuss the 2020 standoff against China.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.
Lok Sabha has been witnessing uproar
Lok Sabha has been witnessing uproarious scenes since February 2, and there have been vociferous protests by opposition members on issues, including the Chair disallowing Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi to quote from an article citing an unpublished memoir of former Army chief M M Naravane on the India-China conflict of 2020.
Amid uproarious scenes, eight opposition MPs were suspended for the rest of the session last week.
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