New Delhi: The Opposition parties’ reported plan to move a no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker was criticised by sources in the government and in the office of Om Birla on Monday, alleging that an attempt was being made to push a false narrative over the unprecedented developments in the House on February 4.
The sources issued a strong rebuttal to the Opposition’s allegations that there was no imminent threat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Opposition women MPs when the Speaker adjourned the House on that day.
However, the Opposition has alleged that the statement made by the Speaker regarding his advice to the Prime Minister not to come to the House to reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address was devoid of facts and that there was no imminent threat to the PM.
Government sources strongly disagreed, saying the Speaker’s statement must be viewed against the backdrop of the grave and unprecedented disorder that unfolded in the House that day.
From the very commencement of the proceedings, the atmosphere in the Chamber deteriorated sharply, giving rise to serious concerns regarding safety, decorum, and the dignity of parliamentary functioning, said a government functionary.
At the initial stage of the proceedings, MPs belonging to opposition parties entered the Well of the House in open defiance of established parliamentary norms. The situation escalated rapidly as certain Members climbed onto tables, tore official papers, and hurled them towards the Chair, he said.
“These acts signified a complete breakdown of discipline and constituted one of the most unfortunate and undesirable episodes witnessed in the Lok Sabha, drawing widespread attention and concern both within the House and beyond, in India and abroad,” he said.
Amid this chaos, several women MPs moved aggressively towards the Prime Minister’s seat, forming a virtual cordon around it. Disturbingly, certain women Members further crossed over to the Treasury Benches, carrying banners and placards and adopting an openly confrontational posture.
They not only laid siege to the Prime Minister’s seat but also advanced deep into the Treasury Benches, encroaching upon the space where senior Ministers were seated, thereby heightening the sense of disorder and insecurity within the Chamber, said a functionary in the Lok Sabha Speaker’s office.
“In view of this sequence of events, the Speaker had genuine and well-founded concerns regarding the safety of the Prime Minister and the maintenance of order in the House. His advice to the Prime Minister not to enter the Chamber at that juncture was guided solely by the need to ensure the smooth functioning of parliamentary business and to safeguard the dignity and sanctity of the institution,” he said.
The Speaker’s foremost constitutional responsibility is to maintain decorum, propriety of the House and order, and his actions were firmly anchored in this obligation, he said.
The Opposition’s subsequent claims that there was no imminent threat to the Prime Minister are therefore entirely baseless and stand contradicted by the events that transpired on the floor of the House, said a government source.
The Speaker’s assertion reflects not conjecture or exaggeration, but a responsible and conscientious discharge of his duty to protect Parliament and all its members.
Subsequently, opposition Members visited the Speaker’s Chamber, where they resorted to the use of unparliamentary language and made threatening remarks.
Such conduct was wholly unbecoming of MPs and further underscored the volatility of the situation prevailing that day, said an MP.
(IANS)
