Speaker refuses to conduct business as din continues
NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla took the unprecedented step of expressing his strong displeasure against the ongoing disruptions in the House by not conducting House business for even a minute on Wednesday after his appeals for peace in the last 48 hours failed to yield results.
Birla came to his office in the morning and held meetings in his chamber but refused to enter the House when the proceedings started at 11 AM. In his absence, two presiding officers—Meenakshi Lekhi and Kirit Solanki—ran the House briefly before adjournment.
The budget session of 2020 started on a confrontational note between the Opposition and the government over the recent riots in nortth-east Delhi that has left at least 47 dead and another 350 people injured. The
Opposition has been insistent on an urgent debate on the riots while the government wants to debate the issue only next week.
The impasse, now in its third day, is also the longest in the 17th Lok Sabha and may adversely affect the successful run of the both Houses of Parliament -something seen since June last year.
On Monday, Birla held discussions with both Opposition and the ruling party leaders to arrive at an understanding. But after all his efforts failed, a disappointed Speaker told the House, “I don’t want to run the House in such a situation. You all discuss among yourselves to build a consensus and to uphold the tradition and rules of the House. The House should run only in a proper manner and to strengthen our democracy.” He too, assured the Opposition of allowing a debate on the riots after Holi (March 10).
According to Lok Sabha officials, on Wednesday Birla reached office around 9 am and spent more than 10 hours there but didn’t want to go to the House. Birla’s absence didn’t go unnoticed as several leaders, cutting across partyl lines, came to meet him during the day. It is not clear if he will preside over the House on Thursday.
So far, the two session of the 17th Lok Sabha have seen over 100% utilization of time. The Lok Sabha, under Birla, worked overtime in both the monsoon and winter session of 2019 and managed to use 134% and 110% of the time available to it, respectively.
According to an analysis by PRS, the Lower House sat for just one hour on Monday and for 55 minutes on Tuesday, as against the allotted 6 hours schedule. The Rajya Sabha sat for 1.27 hours on Monday and just 37 minutes on Tuesday.
The situation was no different Wednesday.