Abhishek Banerjee Criticizes Om Birla’s Election as Lok Sabha Speaker
New Delhi [India], June 26: After Om Birla was elected as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee expressed his dissatisfaction with the process. He claimed that several opposition members requested a division vote, but the Pro-Tem Speaker did not allow it, indicating that the ruling BJP does not have the necessary numbers.
Banerjee stated, “The rule says if any member of the House asks for division, the pro-tem speaker in this case has to allow for a division. You can see and hear from the footage of Lok Sabha that several members of the opposition camp sought a division and asked for a division to put the motion to vote and the motion was adopted without putting the motion to vote.”
He further added, “This is a clear testament to the fact that the ruling dispensation, the BJP, does not have the numbers. This government is running without the numbers. It’s illegal, immoral, unethical and unconstitutional, and the people of the country have already shown them the door. It’s just a matter of time before they’re shown the door again.”
Om Birla, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate and MP from Kota, was elected as the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha after the motion was moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seconded by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The motion was adopted by the house through a voice vote, with the Pro-Tem Speaker, Bhartruhari Mahtab, declaring Om Birla as the Speaker.
The opposition, which had nominated K Suresh as the speaker candidate of the INDIA bloc, did not press for a division vote. JMM MP Mahua Maji explained that the opposition lacked the numbers and therefore did not request a division vote. She said, “I congratulate him on behalf of my party. We (Opposition) didn’t have the numbers, so this (division of votes) wasn’t sought. The Parliamentary tradition has been that the Deputy Speaker should be from Opposition. This is a different time; the Opposition has strength. Opposition wanted to give a message so that this doesn’t happen in future and Opposition is heard.”