Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, replying to the no-confidence motion against Lok Speaker Om Birla, stated that the latter enjoys tremendous ‘goodwill and support’ across party lines, so much so that many Opposition members remain dismissive of the motion against him but are bound to support it out of ‘political compulsion’.
“About 50 MPs from the Opposition have met me and confided that they are against this motion, but out of their political compulsions, they are supporting it,” Rijiju told the House. Rijiju, further lashing out at the Opposition for bringing a motion to remove Om Birla, informed the House about key milestones and transformations achieved during his tenure – crediting him for removing the paper clutter and turning the House into a digital Sansad.
“Unprecedented reforms have taken place during Om Birla’s tenure, new members have been given maximum opportunity to speak in the House, urgent matters of public interest have been raised the maximum number of times till date,” he said. He further said that the transition to a paperless parliament, making it digital, has been Om Birla’s contribution, and lawmakers will always be thankful to him for enriching the House’s legacy.
Calling out the duplicity of the Congress-led Opposition, he said that the House productivity has increased, the Opposition members have been given more chances to ask supplementary questions, but instead of being grateful to him, they have joined hands to seek his ouster.
The Parliamentary Affairs minister, admitting that he himself was moved by Om Birla’s conduct of the house proceedings, said that he and many other ruling lawmakers take pride in the fact that they are serving the Parliament in this period. He also accused the Opposition of harbouring hatred against the Speaker and bringing the motion against him as part of its ‘evil’ strategy to malign the constitutional bodies.