The Lok Sabha will take up the Opposition-sponsored no-confidence motion against Speaker Om Birla on March 9, Union minister Kiren Rijiju said on Sunday, setting the stage for another acrimonious face-off between the Treasury and Opposition benches.
“On March 9 (the opening day of the second leg of the budget session), the Lok Sabha will debate the no-confidence motion moved against the Speaker. There will be voting after the debate,” the parliamentary affairs minister told PTI.
He said the rules mandate that such a motion should be taken up on the first day of a sitting.
The government is confident of defeating the motion as it commands a
comfortable majority in the Lower House.
The first leg of the budget session, which ended on February 13, was marked by repeated disruptions.
The first leg of the budgetsession remained stalled for over a week amid rows over the unpublished memoir of former army chief Manoj Naravane and the proposed Indo-US trade deal, which the Opposition has termed a “wholesale surrender”.
The second leg, to continue till April 2, is unlikely to be smoother. While the Opposition plans to press its motion against the Speaker, theTreasury benches are preparing to advance a “substantive motion” moved by BJP member Nishikant Dubey seeking the termination of leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s membership.
Rijiju warned that the Opposition would only hurt itself if it stalled the proceedings, since the government might then push through financial business without debate.
“If the Opposition doesn’t allow the House to function, we will go for the guillotine. It will be a loss for them,” he said.
In legislative parlance, “guillotine” refers to clubbing and fast-tracking the passage of pending financial demands without detailed discussion.
‘Critical’ bill
Rijiju also hinted at the introduction of a “critical” bill in the upcoming session but declined to reveal details. The Narendra Modi government has in the past surprised the Opposition with sudden legislative moves.
“We will bring some important bills, including one critical bill. We will not disclose now what the bill is, but we will take up very important business in the second part. We will pass all these bills,” Rijiju told PTI.
He suggested the session would be “interesting” as it comes in the run-up to Assembly elections in Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Kerala as well as the Union Territory of Puducherry.
The Opposition has also been weighing the option of moving a notice to impeach chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar ahead of these state elections.
While no final decision has been taken, sources said the Trinamool Congress was keen on pressing ahead with the move to sharpen its attack on Kumar and the BJP over the pre-poll SIR in Bengal.
During the first half of the budget session, the Congress had been reluctant to back the move but might now consider doing so to try and strengthen Opposition unity, sources said.
They indicated that Trinamool’s decision not to sign the no-confidence motion against Birla had stemmed from the Congress’s refusal to support its proposed action against the poll panel chief.
