Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday slammed the Opposition for bringing a resolution for the removal of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, saying that the Chair serves as a neutral custodian, representing both the ruling party and the Opposition.
Replying to the two-day debate on the no-confidence motion against Speaker Birla, Shah said that the House is not a marketplace and that the members are expected to follow the rules.
“According to the established history of this House, its proceedings are conducted on the basis of mutual trust. The Speaker serves as a neutral custodian, representing both the ruling party and the Opposition. Specific rules have been created by this very Lok Sabha to guide how the Speaker should conduct the sessions. This House is not a marketplace; members are expected to speak and participate according to its rules and procedures,” he said.
The Home Minister said that the actions of the Opposition have raised questions about the reputation of India’s democracy.
“The Constitution has given the role of a mediator to the Speaker. You cast suspicions on the mediator. In 75 years, both the Houses have made the foundation of our democracy deeper than ‘paatal’. Opposition has questioned the reputation of that deep foundation,” he said.
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Shah stated that the Bharatiya Janata Party has been in the Opposition for a long time but the party never brought a no-confidence motion against the Speaker.
“Three times, a no-confidence motion against the Speaker of the Lok Sabha was introduced in the House; however, neither the BJP nor the NDA has ever brought forward such a motion,” he added.
He also rubbished the Congress party’s charge that it was not allotted enough times to speak in the House.
“In the 18th Lok Sabha, the Congress Party spoke for 71 hours until yesterday, even though they have 99 members. Whereas the Bharatiya Janata Party was allotted 122 hours, even though we have 239 members. Even in this, the Congress Party got double the time compared to the BJP. But they claim that we weren’t given a chance to speak…,” he added.