Newly elected Speaker Om Birla triggers row with Emergency remark
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday elected BJP-led NDA candidate Om Birla as the Speaker of the lower house by voice vote.
Om Birla, the newly elected Speaker of the Lower House of the Parliament, triggered a protest by the Opposition on Wednesday as he spoke on the Emergency imposed by former prime minister Indira Gandhi. Calling it a black chapter in the history of India, he said the Lok Sabha "condemns the decision to impose Emergency in 1975".
“This House strongly condemns the decision to impose Emergency in 1975. Along with this, we appreciate the determination of all those people who opposed the Emergency, fought, and fulfilled the responsibility of protecting the democracy of India…25th June 1975 will always be known as a black chapter in the history of India. On this day, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed an Emergency in the country and attacked the Constitution made by Baba Saheb Ambedkar,” Om Birla said in his first address as the 18th Lok Sabha Speaker.
According to Birla, Indira Gandhi had imposed a “dictatorship” in India.
“The democratic values of India were crushed, and freedom of expression was strangled…India is known all over the world as the mother of democracy. Democratic values and debate have always been supported in India. Democratic values have always been protected and encouraged,” he added.
“The democratic values of India were crushed, and freedom of expression was strangled…India is known all over the world as the mother of democracy. Democratic values and debate have always been supported in India. Democratic values have always been protected and encouraged,” he added.
Birla also observed a two-minute silence in the memory of those who lost their lives during the Emergency period.
This caused the Opposition to break into protests and sloganeering in the Parliament.
The Lok Sabha elected Om Birla as the Speaker by a voice vote.
Following Birla's election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated him and said he looks forward to the Speaker's guidance for the next five years.
“Your sweet smile keeps the entire House happy…The previous Lok Sabha passed several path-breaking legislations under your leadership,” PM Modi told Birla while addressing the Lok Sabha.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, also extended wishes to Birla and accompanied him to the chair along with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and PM Modi.
The election for the Lok Sabha Speaker post was held in the Parliament for the first time in decades owing to a lack of consensus between the BJP-led NDA government and the Congress-led INDIA bloc opposition. The Congress had fielded Kodikunnil Suresh as its Lok Sabha Speaker candidate against BJP's Om Birla.
Traditionally, the Lok Sabha Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are elected through a consensus between the ruling party and the opposition. However, an indecision between the two promoted an election this time. Such an election for the post has been held only three times in history—1952, 1967, and 1976.
Who is Om Birla?
Birla, born in 1962, is the 18th Lok Sabha Speaker. He was a two-term MP when he was made the Lok Sabha Speaker in 2019, a position usually reserved for senior leaders.
Birla's political career began in 1987 as the district president of the BJP’s youth wing in Kota. In 2003, he won the Kota assembly seat for the first time and remained a Rajasthan lawmaker until 2014, when he won his first Lok Sabha election from Kota-Bundi Lok Sabha.
On June 19, 2019, Birla was elected as the Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha. During his tenure, the Parliament passed landmark legislation such as the Women’s Reservation Bill. It also scrapped Article 370.