Questioning the speaker's integrity is highly condemnable: Amit Shah

Home Minister Amit Shah said on Wednesday that the Lok Sabha Speaker's decision can be disagreed with, but questioning his integrity is highly condemnable. Some rules have been made to run the House and no one has the right to speak against the rules.

In response to the discussion on the no-confidence motion against Speaker Om Birla in the House, Mr. Shah said that this is not a trivial matter. After almost four decades, a no-confidence motion has been brought against the Lok Sabha Speaker. This is a regrettable incident for parliamentary politics and the House. The Speaker is not of any party, but of the entire House, and he is the guardian of all members of the House.

He said that there was a discussion between the government and the opposition for about 13 hours, and more than 42 MPs participated in it. The Speaker's decision in the House is considered final, but the opposition has questioned his integrity despite this.

Mr. Shah said that the Lok Sabha is the largest panchayat in the country and our democracy has a reputation worldwide. When the head of this panchayat's reputation is questioned, our democratic process is questioned. The Constitution has given the Speaker the role of an umpire, but that is being questioned. He said that the history of this House tells us that it runs on mutual trust. Some rules have been made to run the House, and no one has the right to speak against the rules.

The Home Minister said that the Speaker's decision cannot be doubted even if it is not in favor. The decision can be disagreed with, but questioning integrity is highly condemnable. He said, "We have been in the opposition for a long time, but the BJP has never brought a no-confidence motion against the Speaker. We have always worked to protect the dignity of the Speaker's post. The Speaker's integrity should never be questioned, this is our party's ideology."

He said that everyone knows the importance of the Speaker. The Supreme Court also does not interfere in the Speaker's decisions so that they can do their job without fear. Their duty is to maintain discipline and decorum. If someone says something, how can the Speaker allow them to speak? Why don't senior Congress leaders teach their leader, so that they know about the rules? The opposition wants to make the Speaker helpless by tearing up papers and throwing them at him in the middle of the House.

Mr. Shah said that under Rule 375, the House has to be adjourned due to serious indiscipline. How far is it appropriate for opposition women members to come to the Prime Minister's seat inside the House? He further said that under Rule 380, the Speaker has the right to expunge non-parliamentary remarks from the proceedings. The list of non-parliamentary words was not prepared during the tenure of any one government.

The Home Minister said that the Constitution has given everyone rights, but no one has special entitlement. He said that when the opposition brings a no-confidence motion, they are not serious about how the notice will be given. The Speaker himself gave the opportunity to correct the mistakes in the notice, this is his greatness. Opposition members do not follow the rules and say that they are not allowed to speak. The House runs according to the rules, and whoever does not speak according to the rules, their mic should be turned off.

Mr. Shah said that we have heard the entire speech of the opposition members, in which 80 percent of the speeches are just to oppose the government. To oppose the government, they are questioning the dignity of democracy. He said that the Congress has no right to raise the issue of the vacant post of Deputy Speaker in the Lok Sabha, because the Congress had made its own party's Deputy Speaker.

The Home Minister said that Mr. Birla has given members the opportunity to raise their issues in 'Zero Hour' till late at night. He has arranged for speaking in 14 languages inside the House. During his tenure, the Parliament has been digitized. We are moving towards making the entire Parliament 'paperless'. He said that an attempt is being made to distort the image of the BJP that opposition leaders are not allowed to speak in the House. The BJP has never tried to suppress the voice of the opposition. The opposition's voice was suppressed in 1975 when the entire opposition was in jail.

He said that the Congress alleges that the opposition leader's voice is being suppressed, but when they get a chance to speak, they are abroad. Wrong propaganda is being done to defame the Lok Sabha. The opposition has brought a no-confidence motion against the Speaker, in which the opposition leader has not spoken. They do not want to speak. When they speak, they speak against the rules. If the opposition leader is stopped from speaking on a subject and they speak on the same subject again and again, then they will have to be suspended.

During this, Congress members interrupted him, saying that the no-confidence motion is against the Speaker, not against the opposition leader.

Mr. Shah said that Mr. Gandhi did not participate in the discussion on the President's address during the 16th and 17th Lok Sabha and says that he is not allowed to speak. The opposition leader did not participate in the discussion on several important bills. Whenever an important session comes, the opposition leader is on a foreign tour. How will they get a chance to speak when they are abroad?