After Congress, BJP Women MPs Write To Lok Sabha Speaker, Express "Faith"

Eleven BJP MPs wrote Tuesday to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla – who faces a possible no-confidence vote – in response to the letter by counterparts from the Congress, raising serious objections about their "attitude" and expressing "full faith" in Birla's stewardship of the House.

Parliament's budget session was disrupted for a second consecutive week Monday over the opposition's renewed allegations of the Speaker favouring the treasury benches.

Birla has been under pressure since denying Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition, permission to read out excerpts from a book published by ex-Army chief General MM Naravane about the border stand-off with China in Ladakh in 2020.

An opposition incensed by that denial and by the House then allowing a BJP MP, Nishikant Dubey, to read from books targeting the Congress' storied Gandhi family, led to a massive showdown that included Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelling his Lok Sabha speech.

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Birla later said he had advised the Prime Minister to cancel his appearance based on "information the Congress MPs might try something"; this was after opposition MPs, all women, surrounded the PM's seat (he was not in the House at the time) with placards and banners.

First page of the letter BJP women MPs wrote to Om Birla (For full letter click here).

In their letter the BJP MPs praised Birla's role, claiming he "displayed patience and perseverance to uphold the dignity of (the) Lok Sabha" in the face of "unfortunate and regrettable" events.

Second page of the letter (For full page click here).

The MPs also alleged some opposition members entered the Well of the House and "climbed on to the Speaker's table, tearing papers and throwing them at the Speaker".

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"… we urge you to take the strictest possible action, under the rules, against those opposition MPs who have committed such heinous acts within the House premises and brought disrepute to our democratic institutions," the MPs said, underlining that Birla had strived to "enhance the prestige and effectiveness of the House and given equal opportunities to all members".

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has also written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla (File).

Birla has now received three letters over this showdown; the third was from Rahul Gandhi claiming he had deliberately stopped from speaking in Parliament and calling it a "blot on democracy".

"Preventing me from speaking in the Lok Sabha today... gives rise to a serious concern that there is a deliberate attempt to prevent me, in my capacity as the Leader of the Opposition, from speaking on matters of national security," he said.

The extent of chaos and distrust in Parliament over the past two weeks was underlined Monday by reports the opposition will move a no-confidence motion against Om Birla.

Last week eight Congress MPs, including Hibi Eden, Amarinder Raja Warring, and Manickam Tagor, were suspended for the remainder of the session. Warring spoke to NDTV and said, "Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to speak... even though he had authenticated the document..."

BJP MP and ex-union minister Anurag Thakur responded for the ruling party by criticising Rahul Gandhi and the Congress for having "insulted democracy".