Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Friday suggested that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Jagdambika Pal should be the speaker of Lok Sabha instead of Om Birla.
Singh was caught on camera greeting Pal outside Parliament during the ongoing Budget Session. Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP, hailed Pal for his recent ‘fair conduct’ of Lok Sabha proceedings.
“You will be a better speaker than…” Singh is heard telling Pal.
Singh, the veteran Congress leader who has been a two-time chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, called Pal his brother, though the two belong to different parties. Pal, a BJP MP from Domariyaganj in Uttar Pradesh, is a former Congress leader who jumped to the BJP in 2014.
“We have been together. There are ups and downs,” Singh said.
Pal conducted Lok Sabha proceedings in the absence of Om Birla during the recent motion seeking the Speaker’s removal. In fact, Pal was presiding over the Lok Sabha when the motion against Birla was defeated through a voice vote on 11 March.
“Birla ji should leave, and he (Pal) should replace him,” Singh said.
Before joining the BJP in 2014, Pal served as a Congress MP in the 15th Lok Sabha (2009–2014) and was even the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for 31 hours in 1998.
“Kabira khada bazaar mein, maange sabki khair, Na kaahu se dosti, na kaahu se bair,” Singh told Pal before ending the conversation.
The famous couplet (doha) by the 15th-century Indian poet-saint Kabir Das is loosely translated as “Kabir stands in the marketplace (the world), wishing for everyone’s welfare (prosperity/happiness), having no special friendship (attachment) with anyone, nor any enmity (hostility) with anyone.”
Birla ji should leave, and he (Pal) should replace him.
The no-confidence resolution against Birla, defeated on 11 March, was given by several opposition leaders who alleged that he had acted in a “blatantly partisan” manner in the House.
The opposition leaders had also accused the speaker of making certain false claims against Congress members when he spoke of some “unexpected action” in the Lok Sabha and had asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to come to the House to reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address.
