The Trinamool Congress did a U-turn on Saturday, deciding to support the Opposition’s proposed motion seeking the removal of Om Birla as Lok Sabha Speaker.
The development comes at a time when Trinamool has intensified its offensive against the Centre and the Election Commission over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Trinamool had initially refrained from formally associating itself with the notice. On February 10, Opposition MPs had submitted the notice for not allowing leader of the Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders to speak in the House on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, as well as for suspending eight MPs in the first phase of the budget session.
They sought to remove Birla as Speaker for acting in a “blatantly partisan” manner.
Congress chief whip K. Suresh submitted a notice to the Lok Sabha Secretariat seeking Birla’s removal. The document carried the signatures of 119 Opposition MPs but not Trinamool MPs. At that time, Trinamool’s Lok Sabha floor leader Abhishek Banerjee had indicated that his party had no objection in principle to the motion but insisted that the process should be preceded by a collective approach from parties belonging to the anti-BJP platform INDIA alliance.
Abhishek had also said that his party had “no problem” signing the document, but argued that the Opposition should first approach the Speaker with their grievances. “If our grievances are not addressed in three days, we can always move a motion,” he had said on February 10.
Party sources in Calcutta said the shift in position was formalised on Saturday following a decision by Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee. The decision is widely viewed as a strategic attempt to reinforce Opposition unity at a time when several parties are trying to mount a coordinated challenge to the BJP and questioning the conduct of constitutional institutions both inside and outside Parliament.
The notice seeking Birla’s removal is scheduled to be taken up for consideration in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Contacted, Trinamool spokesperson Arup Chakraborty maintained there had been no substantive change in the party’s stand and that the earlier hesitation was only procedural. “Our stand against the Speaker remains the same from the first day. We have been saying that the role of the Speaker, Om Birla, is very partisan. We stand by that position,” Chakraborty told The Telegraph.
Among the 119 MPs who initially signed the notice were prominent leaders from several Opposition parties, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and K. C. Venugopal of the Congress, T. R. Baalu of the DMK, and Dimple Yadav of the Samajwadi Party. MPs belonging to at least 12 parties, including the CPM, RJD, NCP-SP, National Conference, Kerala Congress (J) and CPI(ML), were among those who endorsed the motion.
Political observers had linked Trinamool’s initial reluctance to support the motion was due to the "lukewarm response" of the Congress to its own proposal to bring a notice seeking the removal of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the contentious Bengal SIR. While Opposition parties were not entirely opposed to the suggestion, the proposal did not progress further. Sources indicated that the issue could resurface if the Trinamool presses for it after its nod to support the motion against the Speaker.
Chakraborty, however, dismissed the suggestion that the party’s present move was linked to any “political understanding” with the Congress on the issue of the Election Commission.
The Trinamool spokesperson said that the party had merely wanted to give the Speaker an opportunity to respond to the allegations against him.
“Our objective was to allow the accused to speak in his defence first. So we in principle asked that a notice be issued before moving the motion. We wanted to give him (Birla) a minimum period to respond. We said that if he did not respond, the motion could be brought against him. We were in principle in agreement with the motion from the first day and even today we support it. There is nothing new in this decision,” Chakraborty said.
Chakraborty said that Trinamool had been among the most vocal critics of Birla’s conduct in Parliament.
“Our MP Abhishek Banerjee first pointed out the Speaker’s partisan role when he (Abhishek) tried to raise the issue of demonetisation in Parliament. The Speaker abruptly stopped him (Abhishek), saying that no discussion could be held on past incidents. Abhishek Banerjee reminded him that members had been allowed to discuss the Emergency under Indira Gandhi’s regime, which took place 50 years ago. If the Emergency can be discussed in Parliament, why not demonetisation, which is only eight years old? It speaks a lot about Speaker Om Birla’s partisan role,” Chakraborty said.
He also rejected suggestions that Trinamool’s decision to support the motion for the removal of Birla as the Speaker was linked to any "understanding" with the Congress over a possible move against CEO Gyanesh Kumar.