Cong MPs could carry out 'unexpected act', asked PM not to come; Speaker Om Birla

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said that he had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to come to the House to deliver the address as he had concrete information that many Congress MPs could carry out an "unexpected act" by reaching the spot where the PM sits.

If this incident had occurred, it would have left the country's democratic traditions in shreds, Birla said as the House reassembled at 3 pm.

In a sharp response to Birla's remarks in the House, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged that Prime Minister Modi is "hiding behind" the speaker and termed the claim of any plan to harm Modi as an "absolute lie".

The Lok Sabha had approved the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address without the customary reply from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as opposition members staged loud protests in the House.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla first put the amendments moved by the opposition to a vote. After they were defeated, he read out the Motion of Thanks to President Droupadi Murmu for her address to the joint sitting of Parliament on January 28. The motion was subsequently cleared through a voice vote amid continued sloganeering. With disruptions persisting, the Speaker adjourned the House till 2 pm.

The development marks a rare instance, recalling a similar episode in 2004 when the BJP had prevented then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address, as reported by Hindustan Times.

Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, shared a video clip of Singh’s speech on X from March 10, 2005. In the video, the former Prime Minister refers to the events of June 10, 2004, when he was not allowed to respond to the Motion of Thanks. The passage of the Motion without the Prime Minister’s reply is the first such occurrence in the Lok Sabha since 2004.
(With PTI Inputs)