Lok Sabha Speaker election an example of “vibrant and thriving” democracy: Om Birla

Kota. Om Birla has described the rare election for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker as an example of a “vibrant and thriving democracy” and said that agreement and disagreement are part of it. Birla won the Speaker’s post by voice vote against opposition candidate K Suresh. The opposition had insisted on holding the election by nominating Congress’ Suresh against BJP’s Birla, although it did not press for a division of votes. In an interview, Birla described the disruption in the Lok Sabha during its first session after the formation of the new government as inappropriate and said that there should be a difference between the debates in Parliament and on the streets. On radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh and terror financing accused Engineer Rashid being elected to the House as independents from Punjab’s Khadoor Sahib and Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla respectively while in jail, the Lok Sabha Speaker said that both the members have been elected by the people. Birla told PTI-Bhasha during a visit to his parliamentary constituency Kota in Rajasthan, “They (Singh and Rashid) have been elected by the people and have been sworn in as per the rules of procedure (of Lok Sabha) and the orders of the courts.” When asked about the rare election for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker, Birla said it was an example of a “vibrant and flourishing democracy”. The last election for the post was held in 1976. The first session of the eighteenth Lok Sabha ran from June 24 to July 3. During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s more than two-hour reply to the motion of thanks on the President’s address, opposition members came in front of the chair and created a ruckus and raised slogans. Parties in the opposition alliance ‘India’ had targeted the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Graduate (NEET-UG) question paper leak controversy and the situation in Manipur, among other issues. Proceedings were adjourned several times in both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. Birla said, “Agreement and disagreement are part of democracy.” He said, “There are diverse views. These should be there. The brainstorming that happens due to diversity of views also helps the government in a constructive way. The government also gets to know everyone’s views. The more views there are, the better it will be.” He said, “But one thing is clear that the people of the country expect some difference between the discussions in Parliament and the debates on the streets.” Birla is the first speaker to be elected as a Lok Sabha member for the second consecutive time in 25 years. Congress’ Balram Jakhar had completed two consecutive terms as the presiding officer of the House after being elected from Ferozepur (Punjab) and Sikar (Rajasthan). Birla said that he has been elected from the same parliamentary constituency three times in a row.