New Delhi, March 11 "No, No, No" – Opposition MPs have claimed that this is the frequently repeated refrain they hear from Speaker Om Birla when they try to raise important issues in the Lok Sabha.
Speaking during a debate in the lower house on the resolution to remove Birla as Speaker, several opposition MPs claimed that they were not receiving the protection that they should from the chair, and that disruptions by the treasury benches had become the norm.
RJD's Abhay Kumar Sinha said, "I must say, with regret, that the chair no longer represents the independence of the House, but has become a symbol of the ruling party's tyranny. The chair has lost that impartiality that (Jawaharlal) Nehru ji and other makers of our Constitution expected."
"This House even saw the black day when over 140 MPs were suspended in a single day. Real democracy is the one in which even the poorest and the weakest feel that their voice can be heard... Here, whenever an (opposition) MP gets up to speak, what they receive from that side (Speaker) is 'No, No, No'," Sinha said on Wednesday.
Vijay Kumar Hansdak of the JMM said that this is the Speaker's second term, and the most frequently used word in the House after Nehru is "No".
"When opposition MPs speak, they are interrupted, and that has become a tradition. Another tradition is that while MPs are speaking, the camera is directed in a different direction," Hansdak said.
Speaking on the resolution on Tuesday, Bajrang Manohar Sonwane of the NCP (SP) said, "Nobody is making any personal attacks on Birla ji. We all know what will happen in the vote, but we have brought this no-confidence motion to highlight the democratic rights that we have."
"Like a table fan gives cooling only on one side... When Birla ji looks to the right, he smiles, and when he looks the other way, 'No, No, No.' You are doing the same thing, my party has given me the time to speak," he said, while addressing Sandhya Ray, who was in the chair.