NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said he had advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to attend the House amid concerns over disorder, citing information that an inappropriate incident could have taken place near the Prime Minister’s chair.Birla said the advice was given when the Prime Minister was scheduled to reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address.
“When the Prime Minister was supposed to respond to the President’s address in the House, I received information that several Congress MPs could have created an inappropriate incident near the Prime Minister’s chair… If such an incident had occurred, it would have torn apart the democratic traditions of the country. To prevent this, I requested the Prime Minister not to come to the House… If such an incident had taken place, it would have torn apart democratic traditions. To prevent this, I requested the Prime Minister not to come to the House, and as the presiding officer of the House, it was my responsibility to uphold its high traditions. It is in no way appropriate for the leader of the House not to speak in the House. By not remaining present and by accepting my request, the leader of the House, Prime Minister Modi, helped prevent an unpleasant incident from taking place,” Birla said.His remarks come a day after the Lok Sabha was adjourned minutes before the PM was expected to reply to motion of thanks on the President’s address, following repeated protests by Opposition members, who had gathered near the Prime Minister’s seat and in the Well of the House.The Speaker said the decision was taken in view of the continued disorder and concerns that proceedings could deteriorate further if the House continued as scheduled.The Opposition has accused the government of avoiding debate and stalling parliamentary business, while the ruling side has maintained that repeated disruptions have made it impossible to conduct proceedings.Meanwhile, Congress leader Pawan Khera rejected the allegations and accused the government of planting reports in the media.“Reports are being planted in the media from the Lok Sabha Speaker’s office claiming that the Congress party was planning to use women MPs to “attack” the Prime Minister yesterday. Are the Modi government and their subservient journalists trying to say that women are inherently violent?Is protest by a woman considered terrorism? Were the Modi government and their compliant journalists uncomfortable with a Dalit woman MP standing up? Do they consider them untouchable? The Modi government and its servile journalists should apologize to the women of the country, especially Dalit women,” Khera said in a post on X. There was no immediate response from the government or the Speaker’s office to Khera’s remarks.
