After a week of repeated clashes between the Opposition and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, the Opposition is now preparing to move a no-confidence motion against him in Parliament. The decision comes after several heated exchanges in the Lok Sabha, especially after the Speaker did not allow Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi to quote from or speak about former Indian Army Chief General M M Naravane’s unpublished memoir.

According to a report by The Indian Express, the Opposition has been upset with the Speaker’s conduct for several days and believes that the Opposition is not being given enough space to speak in the House. A source told the publication that Opposition leaders discussed multiple charges against Birla in a meeting and will include them in the no-confidence motion.

“The first being that the LoP was not allowed to speak, and Nishikant Dubey was allowed to say vile things in the House. Second, Birla said in the House that he had received information that Prime Minister Narendra Modi might be attacked, and had asked the PM not to come to the House. Then what Birla said about female MPs planning an attack on the PM in the House. We have had issues with Birla. He is not giving the Opposition space in the house,” the source said.

The source also said that women MPs from the Opposition have written to Speaker Om Birla in response to his allegations. This development has added to the tension between the Opposition and the Speaker.

Congress leader K C Venugopal called the situation in Parliament “very unfortunate” and said that the Opposition is being repeatedly stopped from speaking.

“We all know the space and role of the Opposition in parliamentary democracy. The Leader of the Opposition acts as a shadow Prime Minister. But in this Parliament, when the Leader of the Opposition stands up to say something, the mic gets switched off. In fact, nobody from the Opposition gets time to speak,” Venugopal said.

He further alleged that the current Parliament is functioning in a one-sided manner and is not giving the Opposition a voice.

“This Parliament has become a place where the Opposition has no voice. This Parliament is meant only for the ruling party. Even this morning, all the Opposition parties decided to raise this concern together in the Lok Sabha. This has become a one-sided Parliament,” he said.

Venugopal also accused the government of taking “a number of decisions against the interest of this country” and said that debates are necessary for the Opposition to fulfil its responsibility.

“The Opposition has a responsibility to expose this government, which is possible only through debates. But we are not allowed to speak,” he said.

Referring to the Speaker’s remarks about women MPs, Venugopal questioned the seriousness of the allegations.

“The other day, the Speaker raised a very serious allegation against women. I do not understand this. The Prime Minister, who has boasted of a 54-inch chest, did not come to Parliament because he was scared of some women members. The Speaker said so. Was there anything like that?” he asked.

He also said that if such a statement is made in Parliament, the Speaker must provide clarity.

“In Parliament, many disruptions had happened. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was not allowed to speak. Now, when such a statement comes from the Speaker, shouldn’t we get an explanation? What did the Speaker mean by that statement? Did he have any records? Any evidence? The Speaker who’s not supposed to take sides is now doing so,” Venugopal said.

The tensions rose last Wednesday when Rahul Gandhi, for the second straight day, attempted to quote or speak about Naravane’s unpublished memoir to target the Modi government regarding a military face-off with China in eastern Ladakh in August 2020.

Gandhi was referring to excerpts from the book Four Stars of Destiny, which were published in a recent essay in The Caravan magazine. However, as Gandhi continued to raise the issue of national security using those excerpts, the Chair stopped his speech. The Chair said Gandhi was ignoring directions not to quote from the memoir and called on the next speaker.

Following this, Opposition MPs protested strongly. They entered the Well of the House and threw papers at the Speaker’s podium. This protest led to the suspension of eight Lok Sabha MPs.

Sources said the decision to move the no-confidence motion was taken at the INDIA bloc floor leaders’ meeting held on Monday. Rahul Gandhi and Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge were also present at the meeting.

After the suspension of the eight MPs, Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to Speaker Om Birla. In the letter, Gandhi stated that he had followed the Speaker’s instructions to authenticate the magazine report, but was still stopped from speaking.

He said this was against a “long-standing convention” which allows members to quote or refer to documents once they are authenticated.

As the House saw repeated adjournments due to protests, Speaker Om Birla said last Friday that he cannot run “such a House”. He also highlighted that 19 hours and 13 minutes had been wasted during the current session due to disruptions.

Birla also said that he wants the House to function smoothly, reminding members that people have elected them to raise public issues and not to shout slogans.