Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra on Tuesday supported the no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, describing it as “divine karma” that she was opening the debate for her party during the discussion in the House.
The motion seeking the removal of Speaker Om Birla was moved by Congress MP Mohammed Jawed and supported by 118 Opposition MPs.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Moitra said she was the “lady MP who was illegally witch-hunted by this misogynistic government, wrongly expelled by an ethics committee which had no power to expel, after a motion in which I was not allowed to speak, where the Speaker, in violation of every principle of natural justice, did not allow me to defend myself, “You can’t run away from karma,” she added.
Mahua Moitra alleged that the Speaker had repeatedly denied adjournment motions and said that while Birla had set several precedents as Speaker, “unfortunately, many of them have been less than graceful benchmarks, she said.
“He keeps talking about the garima (dignity) of the House, but it has reached a point where the moment the Speaker enters the House, the garima leaves,” she said.
The TMC MP also accused the Speaker of restricting Opposition voices in Parliament. She alleged that microphones of Opposition members were frequently switched off mid-sentence and claimed that Sansad TV, funded by taxpayers, often blacked out Opposition speeches.
“In the last Lok Sabha, under his guardianship, the art of switching off Opposition microphones mid-sentence was perfected. When we stand up and question it, we are told it is a technical glitch,” Moitra said.
She further said, “The government has turned parliamentary democracy into a circus. If the Speaker becomes a complicit ringmaster in that circus, it is deeply unfortunate for Indian democracy,” she said.
The Krishnanagar MP referred to an earlier statement by the Speaker in which he said he had “concrete information” that some Congress MPs might create an unexpected situation around Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s chair.
“Women MPs of the Congress party had then written to Birla, asserting that the PM’s absence from the House was not due to any threat from them but was an ‘act of fear’.
“The Prime Minister is too scared to come to this House, and the Speaker is covering up for him in this ridiculous manner, denigrating women without any substance,” Moitra said.
Moitra also reminded the parliament of several issues that were not allowed in the House, including debates on the Hindenburg report, Chinese incursions into Indian territory, the Indo–US trade deal, and the Epstein files.
On the Manipur issue, she said, the speaker did not allow a discussion on Manipur until a no-confidence motion was brought in.
Further, she said, “When BJP MP Ramesh stood in this House, and he called Danish Ali, another fellow MP, a ‘katua, musalman atankwadi’, Birla-ji did nothing. You failed not only Danish bhai, but you failed 200 million Muslims of this country,” she recalled, and Bhiduri was never suspended for his remarks.
Moitra told the Chair that they did something with Rule 374A of the Lok Sabha Rules. This rule lets the Speaker stop members from talking without a motion when things get really bad. Moitra said this rule was not used correctly when 100 Opposition MPs were stopped from talking in December 2023. These MPs were upset about the security problem at Parliament. They were protesting. At the time, some important laws were passed, including three laws about crime.
The TMC MP said that in the past, when people talked about motions against the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker was in charge of the discussion, but now there is no Deputy Speaker. For the seven years during the 17th and 18th Lok Sabhas, nobody has been in that position. Moitra finished her talk by quoting Oliver Cromwell, a Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom. Oliver Cromwell said: "You have sat long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I. Let us have done with you. In the name of God go”, she added.
