‘Wait for the action’: Congress signals no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla

NEW DELHI: The Opposition is preparing to move a no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, with senior Congress leader K C Venugopal on Monday hinting at imminent action amid allegations that Opposition voices are being stifled in the House.Speaking to reporters in the Parliament complex, Venugopal criticised the functioning of the Lok Sabha and said the leader of the opposition was not being allowed to speak on key issues. “As per the Parliamentary rules, the Leader of Opposition is a shadow Prime Minister. But here, the LoP is not being allowed to speak in the House. The government can say anything and attack anyone,” he said. Venugopal also took aim at the Speaker, alleging bias against Opposition members. “The Speaker is himself making allegations against the Congress women MPs, but there is no space for the opposition in this House at all and they are not even allowed... This kind of attitude against the opposition never happened before... wait for the action,” the Congress MP from Kerala said.He further alleged that the Leader of the Opposition was prevented from raising concerns over the proposed trade agreement with the United States. “The government wants to preserve the Parliament for itself,” Venugopal said.Referring to the trade deal, he added, “US-India trade deal was somewhat shocking and the Leader of Opposition wants to mention a few things about it to the Speaker, but that was also not allowed. The government wants to preserve the Parliament for itself.”The remarks come amid Opposition claims that Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was repeatedly denied the opportunity to speak during the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address.Backing a collective Opposition stand, Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav said all parties would abide by the decision of the INDIA alliance leadership on the proposed no-confidence motion. “Whatever decision the senior leaders of the INDIA alliance take, all Opposition parties will stick to it,” she told reporters.According to sources, deliberations on the no-confidence motion were held at a meeting chaired earlier in the day by Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.