Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday, February 5, 2026, said he had received information that some Congress Members of Parliament (MPs) were planning to behave in an “unexpected” way near the Prime Minister’s seat, and this led him to advise Prime Minister Narendra Modi to skip the Lok Sabha on February 4 when Modi was to reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address. Birla made this statement while addressing members in the Lower House.

Birla said that he had been told and also personally saw that Congress MPs might approach the Prime Minister’s chair and do something unforeseen, which could threaten the dignity of the House. He said the conduct of some members on the previous day was “unprecedented” and unusual in parliamentary history.

“When the Leader of the House was to reply (to the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address), I had concrete information that many members of the Congress party could carry out an unexpected act by reaching the spot where the Prime Minister sits,” Birla said, adding that he “even saw this scene in the House.”

Birla said that tradition in the Lok Sabha has never seen political disagreements brought to the physical seat of the Prime Minister, and such conduct was not appropriate. He described the behaviour of some Opposition MPs as a “black spot”.

The Speaker also thanked Prime Minister Modi for agreeing to stay away from the session and said that by not coming to the Lok Sabha, the Prime Minister prevented “unpleasant scenes.”

“By agreeing not to come to the Lok Sabha, the Prime Minister prevented unpleasant scenes. I thank him for this,” Birla said in the House.

Before adjourning the Lok Sabha for the day, Birla told members that everyone saw what had happened in the House the previous day and that if a mishap had occurred, it could have harmed the dignity of the parliamentary traditions. He appealed to all members to maintain parliamentary decorum and cooperate in running the House smoothly.

Because of the disruptions and opposition protests, the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address was passed in the Lok Sabha by a voice vote without the customary reply from the Prime Minister. Parliamentary affairs officials said that the Prime Minister would instead respond to the debate in the Rajya Sabha later in the day.

The controversy began the day before when Congress MPs repeatedly disrupted the House proceedings, leading to slogans and protests from the Opposition benches. Government sources told reporters that there was information suggesting that Congress members were planning to physically confront Prime Minister Modi in the Lok Sabha, and they even claimed that some women MPs were being used as a cover for this alleged plan.

In response to Birla’s statement and the government’s explanation, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra strongly rejected the allegations. She accused the government of making the Speaker say these things because the Prime Minister did not have the courage to face the House. Gandhi said the claim that there was a plan to hurt the Prime Minister was completely false.

“It is an absolute lie. There is no question of anybody raising hands on the Prime Minister, trying to hurt him or any such thing. There is no question. So it is absolutely wrong for anybody to say that there was any such plan, there was no such plan,” Priyanka Gandhi told reporters in the Parliament House complex.

She added that if Opposition members quoted books or spoke from sources that the government did not like, they were bound to protest. Gandhi said the Prime Minister was “hiding behind the Speaker” and that this was because he lacked the courage to come to the House especially when women MPs had surrounded his bench the day before.

Priyanka Gandhi also urged the media to ask the Prime Minister, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the government why the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, was not allowed to speak during the proceedings.

The Congress has raised several issues in Parliament, including claims from General M M Naravane’s unpublished memoir relating to the 2020 China standoff in eastern Ladakh, which has been a focus of heated debate. The party has alleged that Rahul Gandhi was repeatedly stopped from speaking during this discussion.

BJP leaders handling defence matters countered the Opposition’s charges, saying references to the memoir in the House broke parliamentary rules and risked demoralising the armed forces.

Overall, the unprecedented event of passing the Motion of Thanks without the Prime Minister’s speech has intensified political tensions in Parliament, highlighting deep divisions between the government and Opposition ranks.