New Delhi: The opposition is preparing to move a no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, with senior Congress leader KC Venugopal on Monday hinting at the imminent action amid allegations that the opposition’s voice is being silenced in the House.Addressing reporters at the Assembly House, Venugopal criticized the functioning of the Lok Sabha and said opposition leaders were not allowed to speak on key issues. “Under parliamentary rules, the leader of the opposition is the shadow prime minister. But here, Labor is not allowed to speak in the House. The government can say anything and attack anyone,” he said.
Venugopal also targeted the Speaker, claiming bias against opposition members. “The Speaker himself has leveled accusations against women congressmen but there is no space for the opposition at all in the House and they are not even allowed… This attitude towards the opposition has never happened before… Action is awaited,” said the Congress MP from Kerala.He further claimed that the Opposition Leader was unable to raise concerns about the proposed trade deal with the United States. “The government wants to keep the Assembly for itself,” Venugopal said.Talking about the trade deal, he added, “The US-India trade deal is somewhat shocking and the leader of the opposition wanted to mention something about the deal to the Speaker, but that was also not allowed. The government wanted to keep the parliament for itself.”Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha was repeatedly denied the opportunity to speak while discussing a motion to thank the President for his speech, the opposition claimed.Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav supported the collective opposition stance and said all political parties will abide by the decision of the Indian Union leadership on the proposed no-confidence motion. “Whatever decision is taken by senior leaders of the Indian Union, all opposition parties will stick to it,” she told reporters.According to sources, earlier in the day, Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the opposition in the Federal House and president of the Congress party, chaired a meeting to consider the no-confidence motion.
