Speaker Om Birla is pleased but not complacent after the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha set a record by passing 35 bills and turned out to be the most productive ever for the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He says the House should aspire for even greater heights, and is sure that longer working hours — a feature of the just-concluded session — are here to stay.
Birla, who represents Rajasthan’s Kota, is in his second Lok Sabha term and first as speaker. He has won praise for ensuring a session free of acrimonious disruptions, and in which 96% of woman MPs had their say. To be sure, the budget session coincided with the traditional honeymoon period enjoyed by a new government, but the speaker is confident that in the future too, disruptions will not take place.
“I believe the first session is the toughest one and I don’t think disruptions will take place in the election seasons. This is because, now the MPs, particularly those from the opposition parties, have developed a faith in me that I will not betray their rights. They have also realised that when the House functions smoothly, the people of this country reposes conviction in our parliamentary democracy,” he told HT in an interview.