Congress sees notice against Om Birla as 'strong message'

NEW DELHI: Congress believes the removal notice against Speaker Om Birla has sent a "strong message" about the "undermining" of the opposition in Parliament under the BJP rule, and the fate of the notice, in view of the ruling camp's majority in Lok Sabha, is only incidental.

The opposition camp was buoyed on Saturday by Trinamool Congress's announcement that it will back the no-confidence motion against the Speaker, an important twist given that the Bengal outfit did not sign the removal notice in Feb. The allies were confident about the TMC anyway, given the upcoming elections in Bengal where the party is directly fighting BJP.





Now, there is renewed confidence that the vote will show the Lower House as vertically divided between the NDA and the INDIA, plus other parties. The explicit message from such a split, parliamentary managers claim, will be that the bipartisan Chair of the Speaker is no longer above the fray as was under previous governments, reinforcing the perception that the opposition is "facing an unequal battle" even in Parliament. "A message had to be sent. We had to register our protest that parliamentary democracy is under threat, and positions of constitutional authorities are being manipulated for political purposes," a key Congress member said.

There is a lingering doubt in the anti-BJP camp that the govt may duck the debate on the removal notice, and instead put the notice straight to vote. Congress and allies are insistent that the issue should be debated, where Birla too would get an opportunity to defend himself.
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