After Surviving No-Confidence Motion, Om Birla Returns to Chair With a Rules-First Defence of the Lok Sabha
✍️ Written by Saket Suman A day after the Lok Sabha rejected an opposition resolution seeking his removal, Speaker Om Birla returned to the Chair on March 12 and used a nearly 26-minute address to frame the two-day confrontation as a test of whether Parliament would be governed by procedure, restraint and institutional authority. Speaking after the House defeated the motion by voice vote yesterday, Birla said the Chair was “not any individual’s possession” but a symbol of “India’s democratic tradition, the spirit of the Constitution and the prestige of this great institution,” and pledged to discharge his duties with “full commitment, impartiality and constitutional propriety.” File Photo of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla The core of Birla’s defence was clear. Every member, whether a minister, opposition leader or backbencher, has the right to speak only within rules laid down by the House, and no office-bearer is entitled to speak outside proce...