Om Birla faces House heat while Opposition turns hawk’s eye on Chair
Image credit video grab of Sansad TV
Rahul Gandhi accuses Om Birla of bowing before PM Modi
By Manish Anand
New Delhi, July 1: The Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla, is beginning to face the heat of the hot seat. The social media is roasting him on perception of biasness. The Opposition is openly questioning his gestures and stances.
Before leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, accused Birla of bowing before Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Lok Sabha Speaker on his own offered defence over growing criticism against him.
“K. Suresh knows the Chair doesn’t control the mic. What is being said outside the House on mic being switched off is not appropriate,” said Birla after the Lok Sabha resumed business on Monday.
Birla sought to argue that the control of mic does not lie with him. “K. Suresh was among the presiding officers. Does the Chair control the mic,” Birla asked Suresh.
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The Lok Sabha Speaker was apparently raising the issue on his own amid growing criticisms by the political leaders outside parliament over mic of Opposition leaders getting switched off when they are not allowed to speak. Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, had also mentioned on a few occasions in the House that his mic had not been working when he tried to speak on certain issues.
Gandhi, while speaking on the motion of thanks on the address of President Droupadi Murmu to the joint session of parliament, alleged that Birla had shown contrasting gestures when he was congratulated after becoming the Speaker of the House.
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“When I shook hands with you, you were standing straight. But when Prime Minister Narendra Modi shook hands with you, you bowed before him,” charged Gandhi.
Birla rejected the contention of Gandhi, saying his gestures were part of the ‘sanskar’ that made him bow before an elder. Birla sought to argue that Modi being elder made him bow before him. Gandhi asked him to bow only before the Constitution.
The Trinamool Congress MP, Mahua Moitra, also recalled the termination of her membership of the Lok Sabha earlier. “When there were attempts of cheerharan (disrobing), the people like Lord Krishna became my protector,” said Moitra, while taking part in the discussion on motion of thanks to the address of President Droupadi Murmu to the joint session of parliament.
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