Parliamentary standoff: Debate on no-confidence motion against Bella begins, centrists clash with opposition

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Tuesday witnessed a heated showdown between the opposition and the finance minister as the House took up a resolution seeking the removal of the Speaker About Birla.After Congress MP Mohammad Jawed read out the notice, chairperson Jagdambika Pal of the BJP approved the 10-hour debate. The resolution was seconded by more than 50 MPs.However, opposition lawmakers objected to Pal presiding over the House and said the government had not appointed a deputy speaker in the past few years, creating a constitutional vacuum.Congress MP KC Venugopal questioned Jagdambika Pal’s authority, saying, “You were appointed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.” He added that the House should elect a person to preside over proceedings during the debate on the resolution.The finance minister refuted the claims, citing constitutional provisions, laws and House rules. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the opposition’s claims were irrelevant as Pal was capable of presiding over the Lok Sabha when the resolution was passed.Rijiju said a member of the chairman’s panel could preside over the Lok Sabha meeting when a resolution to remove the Speaker is being considered.“Presidential panel member Jagdambika Pal can preside over the Lok Sabha session after considering the resolution to remove the Speaker,” Rijiju said.“Kiren Rijiju is the parliamentary affairs minister who interrupts the opposition most often”Responding to this, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said, “When the parliamentary records are studied in the future, statistics will show that Kiren Rijiju is the parliamentary affairs minister who interrupted the opposition the most.”Union Home Minister Amit Shah also intervened and said: “I agree with you that Kiren Rijiju, as parliamentary affairs minister, interrupted the most. But we have also never seen such irresponsible opposition. “Gogoi reiterated his previous view that it was because of the authority of the Speaker that he selected the chairperson from the panel to chair such debates.He argued that allowing panel members appointed by the Speaker to preside over debates against the Speaker’s motion amounted to a “violation of the constitution”.A total of 118 opposition MPs signed the motion, accusing the Speaker of “partisan” behavior after opposition leader Rahul Gandhi was allegedly not allowed to speak in the House. In reading out the resolution, MP Javid also mentioned that the Speaker falsely accused opposition female MPs of planning a personal attack on the Prime Minister.According to sources, Federal Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju will initiate discussions on the resolution. BJP MPs Anurag Thakur, Nishikant Dubey, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Bhartruhari Mahtab will comment on the matter. Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan will also address the House during the discussion.Congress MPs Gaurav Gogoi, Manish Tewari, Deepender Singh Hooda and Jyotimani will present their arguments in the Lok Sabha in support of the resolution seeking to remove the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.