Back in Speaker’s Chair, Om Birla Returns to Usual Business, Cuts Short Rahul Gandhi’s Speech |
New Delhi: Back in the Speaker’s chair after the ‘no-confidence’ motion moved against him was defeated, Om Birla on Thursday (March 12) returned to usual business by resuming much of the actions that had led the opposition to move the no-trust resolution against him.
The day began with Birla adjourning the house within two minutes of proceedings starting. When proceedings resumed at noon, the Speaker dismissed the adjournment notices that had been submitted. He then cut short the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s speech, as Gandhi referred to Union oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s “friend” – the US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – while speaking on India’s energy security concerns amid the West Asia conflict.
In his first remarks after returning to the Chair following the no-confidence motion, Birla said that the House would only function according to the rules, defended the suspension of MPs as “difficult decisions” and said that two days that had been “wasted” due to the discussion on the no-confidence motion must be compensated by getting the House to function for longer hours.
While the motion against Birla, signed by 118 MPs, was brought last month in the immediate aftermath of Gandhi not being allowed to speak in the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address debate, on his first day back, Birla once again cut short Gandhi’s speech.
Gandhi, while speaking on concerns around India’s energy security amid the West Asia conflict, said that “pain has just started” and the puzzle behind US “allowing” India to purchase Russian oil was a compromise, pointing to Puri who he called a friend of Epstein’s. This led Birla........