The opposition parties are mulling to bring a no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for ‘not allowing their leaders to speak in the Lower House’ and for not accepting any adjournment notice, sources said.
The opposition is miffed with the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and alleged that the decision has been taken in haste.
The opposition will bring the no-confidence motion next Monday and the signatures of MPs are being taken. The idea was mooted during an opposition meeting.
Gandhi was disqualified as an MP 24 hours after being convicted by a Surat court on Friday. The Surat district court in Gujarat on March 23 convicted the Congress MP in a criminal defamation case over his alleged ‘Modi surname’ remark in 2019.
He was convicted under Indian Penal Code sections 499 and 500. The maximum punishment under this section is two years.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA and former Gujarat minister Purnesh Modi had filed the case against Rahul Gandhi for his alleged “how come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname…” remark.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday lashed out at the Central Government’s attempts to “scare, threaten and humiliate” referring to the Lok Sabha Secretariat’s directive asking Rahul Gandhi to vacate his government bungalow in Delhi after he was disqualified as a member of Parliament.
“They will make all attempts to weaken him (Rahul Gandhi) but if he vacates the bungalow, he’ll go live with his mother or he can come to me and I’ll vacate one,” Kharge said.
The Congress chief added: “I condemn the attitude of the government to scare, threaten and humiliate him. This isn’t the way. Sometimes, we’ve been without a bungalow for three to four months. I received my bungalow after 6 months. People do this to humiliate others. I condemn such an attitude.”