3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Mar 10, 2026 07:49 PM IST
In a sharp attack on Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla during a debate on the no-confidence motion against him, TMC MP Mahua Moitra accused him of unprecedented partisanship — from disallowing every adjournment motion by the Opposition, presiding over the suspension of record numbers of Opposition MPs, referring very few Bills for scrutiny to Parliamentary committees, and not allowing Opposition MPs to speak, while permitting objectionable remarks by ruling party members.
Accusing Birla of “presiding over the liquidation of the functioning of Parliamentary democracy”, she said it was ironic that the House from where she was “illegally expelled” by the “misogynist government” and not allowed to present her own defence by the Speaker, she was opening the debate on her party’s behalf against that very Speaker. “You can’t run away from Karma,” Moitra said.
The role of the Speaker, she said, is that of a neutral arbiter, and it can’t be a matter of personal ego. Moitra recalled that a no-confidence motion was moved against the first Speaker G V Mavalankar, and that then PM Jawaharlal Nehru had said more time should be given to the Opposition in such a context.
Moitra said the Speaker has rejected each demand of the Opposition. She added that while the Deputy Speaker had presided over previous no-confidence motions against Speakers, the post of the Deputy Speaker has been vacant for years despite the Constitution mandating it.
Moitra said while suspensions of MPs earlier went through formal motions, now as per an altered rule brought during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure, it happens without any formal motion.
In 2023 with Om Birla in the Chair, she said, the largest-ever mass suspension of Opposition MPs members took place, with 100 of them being suspended in one day — 40% of the total numbers of suspensions in the last 20 years.
“And what was our grave error? We wanted a statement from the government on the breach of Parliamentary security,” Moitra said. She added that Birla presided over the passage of three criminal (Amendments) Bills “without any substantive discussion”. “He is complicit in throttling democracy,” Moitra said as Treasury Benches rose in protest.
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From 2004 until now, she said, 245 suspensions of members have been recorded in LS, and 120 of them happened when Birla was presiding.
Moitra said that among all leaders of Opposition, BJP’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj were granted more than a fair share of time in the House. In contrast, she claimed, the present Speaker “cut off” Opposition MPs when they spoke, but allowed the ruling party MPs as much time as they wanted.
Moitra said a no-confidence motion had to be moved for a discussion on Manipur. She alleged the Speaker did nothing against BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri for his derogatory remarks against Danish Ali. No adjournment motion was allowed on the India-US trade deal and the Epstein files, she added.
Referring to the unpublished memoir of former Army Chief General M M Naravane, Moitra said LoP Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to read from the book while an MP “designated as prime heckler by the Treasury benches” was allowed to quote from other books.
