Opposition submits no trust motion against Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla 

At a meeting between opposition parties and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, it was agreed that the budget discussion should begin at 2:00 pm. As per opposition MPs, it now depends on the government how the House functions at 2:00 pm.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju criticised the Opposition for creating chaos and preventing the House from functioning.

Rijiju claimed that several opposition parties are ready to discuss the Union Budget 2026-27, but the Congress does not want the Parliament to function.

"It's budget time today, and we should discuss it. I told Congress yesterday as well to discuss it. Leaders from DMK, Samajwadi Party, and Trinamool are ready to speak, but Congress does not want Parliament to function," he said.

Efforts are being made to resolve the deadlock in the Lok Sabha. A meeting will be held between the Speaker and some opposition parties. The meeting will take place at 12:30 pm. The Parliamentary Affairs Minister will also be present.

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.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday said if debates do not take place in Parliament, it will be a loss for the opposition as the ruling alliance has the majority and will have no problem in passing anything in the House.

But the government wants everything to be passed after a debate, the Parliamentary Affairs minister said, amid the ongoing stand-off between the government and the opposition in Parliament.

Talking to reporters in the Parliament House complex, Rijiju also said that the opposition is free to bring a no-confidence motion against Speaker Om Birla, but it does not have the numbers to remove him.

He also accused the opposition of insulting the institution of the Speaker by climbing on his table and that of the table officers, and storming into the Speaker's room.

Rijiju said the government could have asked the Speaker to take stronger action, but it was okay with his decision to suspend eight opposition MPs.

Since the beginning of the Budget Session of Parliament on January 28, till February 6, Lok Sabha achieved a productivity level of 20 per cent, and the Rajya Sabha, about 89 per cent, according to a study. 

While the Upper House functioned for a total of 31.9 hours during that period, the Lower House could clock only 7.7 hours, as per a report by PRS Legislative Research. 

Rajya Sabha spent 23.1 hours on non-legislation, i.e., actions or decisions not made through formal legislative processes, and Lok Sabha clocked only 2.9, it said. 

In other matters, while Rajya Sabha devoted 5.9 hours to questions, 0.7 in legislation, and 2.1 in other business, the Lower House of Parliament could find time for such work for 2.3, zero, and 1.1 hours, respectively, the report added. 

The only business the Lok Sabha devoted more time to was financial, with 1.4 hours against zero in the Upper House. This stems from the Lok Sabha's exclusive power to introduce Money Bills, in which the Rajya Sabha's role is limited to reviewing and making recommendations, which the Lower House can accept or reject.