Approach LS Speaker before no-confidence motion: Abhishek Banerjee

Trinamool Congress MP and national general-secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday said his party is willing to support a no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, but insisted the Opposition should first formally present its concerns to him before initiating removal proceedings.

Speaking to reporters within the Parliament House complex, the Diamond Harbour MP argued that Birla ought to be given an opportunity to respond to complaints — among them the suspension of eight MPs — before the Opposition escalates the matter.

Opposition parties earlier in the day submitted a notice seeking to move a resolution to remove Birla, accusing him of conducting House proceedings in a “blatantly partisan” manner and misusing the constitutional office by making “blatantly false” allegations against Congress members.

The notice was handed to Lok Sabha secretary-general Utpal Kumar Singh by Congress deputy leader Gaurav Gogoi, chief whip K. Suresh and whip Mohamed Jawed on behalf of several parties, including the Congress, Samajwadi Party and DMK.

TMC MPs did not attach their signatures and were not part of the submission. Clarifying the party’s position, Banerjee said, “The All India Trinamool Congress has no problem signing the no-confidence motion against the Speaker. All 28 MPs will sign it.”

He added that the INDIA bloc should first issue a joint communication outlining the grounds of complaint. “However, before moving the no-confidence motion, we want all the INDIA bloc partners to sign a letter addressed to the Speaker, highlighting the four points on which the argument is based,” he said.

Banerjee suggested that one such issue — the suspension of eight Congress MPs — could be raised with a request for reconsideration. “For instance, eight INC (Congress) MPs have been suspended. An appeal can be made to reconsider or revoke the suspension. The speaker can be given two to three days' time to respond.”

If the Speaker neither acts nor provides satisfactory clarification on the concerns raised, he said, the opposition could proceed with the motion after that window.

He emphasised that his party’s primary objective is the functioning of Parliament. “We want the House to function properly, but it appears the Union government does not. The House has been adjourned twice, and the Speaker has not come to the House,” he said.

“From 2.00 pm yesterday until 11.00 am today, the House remained adjourned. If you [the Speaker] truly intend to ensure the House functions properly, why would you adjourn it for such a long period? You share the responsibility, along with the Union government, to ensure the smooth functioning of the House,” he added.

Sources indicated that roughly 120 MPs from parties including the Congress, DMK, Samajwadi Party, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) have already endorsed the notice seeking the resolution against Birla.

Efforts to unseat a Speaker have been attempted before, but none have succeeded.

With PTI inputs