The Congress on Tuesday moved a motion seeking to remove Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla from office, accusing him of being partisan and contending that his actions “constitute a serious danger to the proper functioning” of the House.

Moving the motion, MP Mohammad Jawed alleged that Birla prevented Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi from speaking in the House, made “unwarranted allegations” against women MPs and suspended Opposition legislators for an entire session for raising matters of public concern.

Jawed, the MP from Bihar’s Kishanganj, alleged that Birla “openly espouses the version of the ruling party on all controversial matters”.

The resolution has been signed by 118 Opposition members, The Indian Express reported.

Birla has recused himself from the proceedings of the House until the motion is considered.

During a discussion on the resolution, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MP Asaduddin Owaisi contended that Bharatiya Janata Party MP Jagadambika Pal, who was chairing the proceedings on Tuesday, did not have the authority to do so.

Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal asked why the Union government had not appointed a deputy speaker in the Lok Sabha for around seven years, asserting that this had “created a constitutional vacuum”.

In a similar vein, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi questioned how it was decided that Pal would chair the proceedings related to the no-confidence motion. He said that, as per the rules, the speaker has to appoint a panel of chairpersons, who will decide the person who will sit on the Chair during the discussion on the resolution.

“The House has no record from the panel of chairpersons on this matter,” he said.

However, Pal said that he had already given his ruling on the matter. He said that the post of the speaker is not vacant and that appointments made by Birla are valid.

BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad also said that Pal had “complete authority” to preside over the proceedings, citing the rules of procedure of the Lok Sabha.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the Opposition was misinterpreting the term “preside” from the rules of procedure and added that the powers of the speaker are valid even during an election.

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Opposition MPs had on February 10 submitted a notice indicating its intention to move a no-confidence motion against Birla. At that time, they had noted that on Febrruary 2, Gandhi was not allowed to complete his speech on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address.

The notice also said that on the next day, eight Opposition MPs were “arbitrarily suspended” for the remainder of the Budget Session and were “being penalised merely for exercising their democratic rights”.

The MPs had been suspended after they allegedly tore up papers and threw them at the speaker’s chair.

Birla became the speaker in 2019. He retained the post in 2024, when the Opposition forced an election for the speaker’s position for the first time in several decades.