NEW DELHI,12March 2026: During the debate on the no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi launched a scathing attack on BJP’s Kiren Rijiju, saying he would be remembered as the Parliamentary Affairs Minister who interrupted the Opposition the most. Gogoi’s jab drew a swift response, not from Rijiju, but from Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Shah agreed with Gogoi that Rijiju interrupted the most, and then added that the country had never seen such an “irresponsible opposition” before.
The Lok Sabha is debating a no-confidence motion signed by 118 Opposition MPs. The motion accuses the Speaker of partisan behaviour and cites instances of him not allowing Rahul Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, to speak in the House. The resolution also flags the Speaker’s recent remarks that women MPs from the Opposition were allegedly planning to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi physically.
“This resolution has been brought as a responsibility to protect the dignity of the House, not personally against Om Birla. “We stated that in February, when the LoP wanted to speak on the motion of thanks to the President’s address, he was interrupted 20 times by the Speaker, members of the chairpersons’ panel, and senior members of the treasury benches. He was interrupted in a premeditated manner. The Speaker did not allow the LoP to speak. The LoP was repeatedly interrupted while attempting to place a few critical issues mandatory to be known to the House and the people of the country,” Gogoi said.
The Jorhat MP also referred to the chaos over Gandhi wanting to speak about former Army chief General MM Naravane’s unpublished book. Amid protests by BJP MPs, the Speaker had denied the Congress leader permission to speak about the book. At this point, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju intervened and said that the debate is about the Speaker. If the opposition is talking of other issues, they should not interrupt when the treasury benches reply, Rijiju said.
Picture credit social media
