New Delhi: Pushed to virtual irrelevance by the government’s brute majority in the past decade, a resurgent Opposition Wednesday leveraged its renewed numerical strength to take thinly veiled digs at newly re-elected Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for how they were treated in the previous House.
From Rahul Gandhi’s reference to “non-democratic idea” of “silencing” the Opposition’s voice to Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay’s remark about “bowing before the ruling party,” the opposition MPs minced no words in expressing their disapproval with the functioning of the previous House. They sought “significantly more” space in the new Lok Sabha in view of their larger numerical presence.
Birla snapped a few times as the INDIA bloc MPs picked up instances from the 17th Lok Sabha to make their point, but the battle lines were further drawn once he read out a resolution condemning the Emergency, as the Opposition saw it as a sign of continuity of him toeing the government’s “confrontational” line of action.
The resolution, read out by Birla, stated that India was “subjected to dictatorship by Indira Gandhi”, leading to the country’s democratic values being “crushed and freedom of expression stifled”.
“This House strongly condemns the decision to impose Emergency in 1975. We appreciate the determination of all those people who opposed the Emergency, fought and fulfilled the responsibility of protecting India’s democracy. 25 June 1975 will always be known as a black chapter in the history of India,” Birla said.
Earlier in the day, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi said Birla was the “final arbiter” of the people’s voice that the Lok Sabha represents. The government, said Rahul, has political power, but the Opposition “represents significantly more voice of the Indian people than it did last time”.
“The idea that you can run the House efficiently by silencing the voice of the opposition is a non-democratic idea and this election has shown that the people of India expect the Opposition to defend the Constitution of this country, and we are confident that by allowing the Opposition to speak, by allowing us to represent the people of India, you will do your duty of defending the Constitution of India,” Rahul said.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, senior TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay, DMK veteran T.R. Baalu, NCP (Sharad Chandra Pawar) MP Supriya Sule, National Conference MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi were among the other Opposition MPs who took swipes at Birla.
“Neutrality is the great responsibility that comes with this great post. No voice should be muzzled and suspensions should not sully the decorum of the House. Your leash should not just be on the Opposition, but the ruling side also. The House should run as per your directions, not the other way round…I thought the Speaker’s chair will be very high in this House because in the House I left behind, the Speaker’s chair was very high,” Yadav said.
Apart from Rahul, Yadav, Baalu, and the Opposition’s Speaker nominee Kodikunnil Suresh, Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasad occupied the front row of the Opposition benches.
One of the senior-most MPs, Baalu said Birla may have been elected on the BJP’s lotus symbol, he should strive to be impartial going ahead.
Bandyopadhyay, a five-term MP, said the ruling NDA must reconcile to the increased strength of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and avoid neglecting them. “My experience says, at times you had to bow before the ruling party. MPs were suspended. It is not desirable. Bills were passed without any discussion,” the TMC MP said.
Similarly, Sule said the Opposition members carry a deep sense of hurt over the suspension of MPs in the previous Lok Sabha.
As many as 146 MPs — 100 from the Lok Sabha and 46 from the Rajya Sabha — were suspended during the last winter session of the 17th Lok Sabha after they demanded a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the security breach in Parliament premises.
“We are always ready for dialogue, so do not think of suspensions. People really look up to us and very few of us are blessed to be here. Running the House is the responsibility of the government, not the Opposition’s,” Sule said.
Soon after, remarks made by Srinagar MP Aga Ruhullah Mehdi drew a sharp response from Birla.
Mehdi, who drew praise from NC vice-president Omar Abdullah for his maiden speech, said that Birla’s record as a Speaker will also be remembered for the fact that a Muslim MP was “called a terrorist” under his watch.
“If a Muslim MP can be called a terrorist in the House, then Muslims can be called terrorist even on the streets,” Mehdi said, adding that the Bill abrogating Article 370 was introduced and passed in a rush.
At that point, Birla stepped in, saying that Mehdi should carefully “weigh his words, first observe the proceedings of the current session of the House and then comment”.
But, the barbs kept coming, as speaking after Mehdi, K. Francis George of the Kerala Congress also took a dig at the Speaker.
“The prime minister said the last Lok Sabha was a golden period. I don’t know what was golden about it. Surely, suspensions of members and passing of bills without debates cannot be golden,” George said, as Birla cut him short and moved on to the next speaker.
AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi, SAD’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Chandrashekhar Azad of the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) urged Birla to set aside time for the smaller parties. “I hope the government will reduce the burden on you by appointing a Deputy Speaker. Remember that the character of the House has changed and the BJP won’t be able to steamroll anymore,” Owaisi said.
After hearing both sides, Birla said the strength of a democracy lay in agreements and disagreements. Elected from Rajasthan’s Kota for the third time, Birla said the MPs may represent different ideologies, but the “nation is supreme”.
(Edited by Tony Rai)