New Delhi, March 11 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday slammed the Opposition for bringing a notice seeking the removal of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and also took a swipe at the Congress and the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) for allegedly stoking pandemonium in the House with false claims.

HM Shah rejected the specific claim that the LoP was not allowed to speak in the House, saying that the Lok Sabha functions according to established rules and every member is expected to abide by them. However, if a person does it deliberately and delinquently, there is nothing wrong in the Chair rebuking the member, he said.

Taking a swipe at the Opposition, HM Shah said that senior members like Shashi Tharoor and others should counsel Congress leaders on upholding the customs of the House.

“A member continuously complains that he is not allowed to speak and that his mic is switched off, but they remain ignorant of the rules. Even ministers’ microphones are switched off if they speak out of turn,” HM Shah pointed out.

He added that the House functions according to established rules and regulations, and anyone who violates its norms must be corrected.

Berating the Congress-led Opposition for claiming the moral high ground, HM Shah said that their conduct remains bereft of values and reflects duplicity.

He also said that during previous no-confidence motions against the Speaker under Congress-led governments, the Speaker had continued to preside over House proceedings, but Om Birla chose to recuse himself from the debate, marking a new precedent in parliamentary customs.

Contrasting the Opposition’s alleged negligence and lack of seriousness in its own motion with Om Birla’s magnanimity, HM Shah pointed out that their notice had to be rectified by the Speaker himself.

“In the first notice, they (Opposition) made mistakes by mentioning the wrong date and figures. In the second notice, only one member signed while the signatures of the remaining 108 members were xerox copies,” he said, adding that it was the Speaker who called them and got the error corrected.

He further stated that the Opposition members were not even keen on debating the issue despite moving the no-confidence motion against the Speaker.

The Business Advisory Council had fixed March 9 for the debate on the no-confidence motion, but the Opposition itself refrained from participating in the discussion, he added.

–IANS

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