Lok Sabha session: House adjourns amid Opposition's sloganeering as Speaker Birla condemns 1975 Emergency

Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, the newly-elected MP from Srinagar, on Wednesday urged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to ensure the sanctity of the House by restraining members from making disparaging remarks like dubbing a Muslim parliamentarian a "terrorist" or rushing legislations like the abrogation of Article 370. In his two-minute inaugural address after Birla was elected Speaker, the National Conference member made a passionate appeal and emphasised, "I would request you that from today you are neither BJP nor Congress or Samajwadi, and you have only one party, and that is the Constitution of India." He expressed hope that the Speaker would uphold the Constitution and lead the house as a beacon of democracy. Mehdi cryptically alluded to the Speaker's legacy, stating that his actions in handling both the government and opposition voices would define his tenure.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday described Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla as the "chief justice" of democratic justice, saying the House should function on his directions and not otherwise. Congratulating Birla on being re-elected Speaker of Lok Sabha, Yadav said in the House that all members believe that as the presiding officer, he will give equal opportunities and respect to every party.

Rajya Sabha member John Brittas today raised concerns about the hike in tariffs for the Thiruvananthapuram international airport and sought the civil aviation ministry's intervention to review the revisions. The Airport Economic Regulatory Authority has approved revisions in tariffs, including higher User Development Fee and landing charges, for the airport. The revised tariffs will be effective from July 1 for the airport, which is managed by Adani Airport Holdings Ltd. In a letter to Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu, Brittas has expressed grave concerns over "the recent humongous tariff revisions" at the airport in Kerala's capital.

Rahul Gandhi's appointment as the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha will provide a platform for the voices of the unheard, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said on Wednesday. He said the INDI alliance is already effectively serving its role as the opposition and expressed confidence that it will soon transition to forming the government. "Best wishes to @RahulGandhi ji for taking up the role of the Leader of Opposition, in the Lok Sabha. The people of this country have voted against dictatorship and against divisive politics of hate, and this role becomes important as Rahul ji will be a voice for those unheard," Thackeray stated in a post. The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance, also comprising the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar).

Congratulating Om Birla for being elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha for a second term, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and other opposition MPs on Wednesday hoped they would be allowed to raise the voice of people in the House and incidents like the suspension of MPs will not be repeated. While the opposition pushed a contest for the post of Speaker by pitching K Suresh against Birla, who was announced elected by a voice vote, Gandhi went and congratulated Birla on the floor of the House. He also accompanied the new Speaker to the Chair along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju. Gandhi said the opposition wanted the House to function "often and well" and added that it was very important that cooperation happened with trust.

The Congress today said the INDIA constituents did not seek a division of votes in the Speaker's election as they wanted to maintain a spirit of consensus and cooperation. "INDIA parties exercised their democratic right and moved motions in support of Kodikunnil Suresh as Lok Sabha Speaker. Voice Vote was taken. Thereafter, INDIA parties could have insisted on division," AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh said, "The people who talk about protecting the Constitution, never in the history of India was the Constitution blown up as it was done during an emergency. The youth need to know about the time of emergency."

On Resolution against Emergency, Shashi Tharoor said, "It has been a rather dramatic start to the session because you had all Opposition leaders standing up and saying that they hope that the Speaker would conduct the House in a manner that is fair to all Opposition parties and that would take everyone's point of view into account and give everyone's voice and opportunity to be heard. What we saw was the Speaker, unfortunately, raising a matter that had not been discussed in the House and in a manner that came across as confrontational which was not the right note on which to start the session. But we will have to see how things proceed."

"On June 26, 1975, the then PM Indira Gandhi called an emergency cabinet meeting and ratified post-facto, the PM took the decision alone. That is why today we passed the resolution in the House that such trampling, demolition of the Constitution will not be allowed again. So, we have taken a resolution," said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rijiju.

"I am glad that the Honourable Speaker strongly condemned the Emergency, highlighted the excesses committed during that time and also mentioned the manner in which democracy was strangled. It was also a wonderful gesture to stand in silence in honour of all those who suffered during those days. The Emergency was imposed 50 years ago but it is important for today's youth to know about it because it remains a fitting example of what happens when the Constitution is trampled over, public opinion is stifled and institutions are destroyed. The happenings during the Emergency exemplified what a dictatorship looks like," PM Modi posted on X.

Hope there will be no disruptions in 18th Lok Sabha, said newly-elected Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced his ministers in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said, "I want to thank PM Modi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiu and all the members of the House for giving me the opportunity to work as the Speaker of the House again. I want to thank everyone for showing trust in me."

TMC MP Sudeep Bandopadhyay said, "I congratulate you for becoming the Speaker of the House for the second time. We are glad that now our country has got a leader of the Opposition in the Parliament...It is my firm belief that a House also belongs to the Opposition. This attitude is to be adopted by the ruling party itself. You may have good intentions but sometimes you have to bow down to the ruling party's pressure. Suspension of 150 MPs on a day, it has happened in this House, it is not desirable..."

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav says, "...I congratulate you and extend you best wishes on behalf of all my colleagues. The post that you are occupying has glorious traditions attached to it. We believe that this will continue without any discrimination and as Lok Sabha Speaker you will give equal opportunities and respect to every member and party. Impartiality is a great responsibility of this great position...We expect that no public representative's voice will be stifled, nor will an action like expulsion take place again. Your control is on the Opposition but it should be on the ruling side too. The House should function on your signals and not the other way round. We stand with all your just decisions...I hope that you would respect Opposition as much as you respect the ruling dispensation and let them present their side..."

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi said "We are confident that by allowing the Opposition to speak, by allowing us to represent the people of India, you will do your duty of defending the Constitution of India. I'd like to once again congratulate you and also all the members of the House who have won their election."

"I would like to congratulate you for your successful election that you have been elected for the second time. I would like to congratulate you on behalf of the entire Opposition and the I.N.D.I.A alliance. This House represents the voice of India's people and you are the final arbiter of that voice. The government has political power but the opposition also represents the voice of India's people and this time, the opposition represents significantly more voice of the Indian people than it did last time. The opposition would like to assist you in doing your work. We would like the House to function often and well. It is very important that cooperation happens on the basis of trust. It is very important that the voice of the Opposition is allowed to be represented in this House," said Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha.

It's not a matter how sufficiently you proceed the function of the House but how much you will allow us to represent the voice of people, Rahul Gandhi said while congratulating Om Birla on being re-elected as Lok Sabha speaker.

"I want to congratulate you on behalf of the House. It is a huge responsibility for you to sit on this post for the second time during the Amrit Kaal. With your experience, we hope that you will guide us for the next 5 years,' said PM Modi addressing newly-elected Speaker Om Birla.

BJP MP Om Birla occupied the Chair of Lok Sabha Speaker after being elected as the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, LoP Rahul Gandhi and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju accompanied him to the Chair.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated NDA candidate Om Birla after his victory as the Lok Sabha Speaker.

NDA candidate Om Birla was elected as Speaker in the 18th Lok Sabha election.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi moved the motion to elect Om Birla as Speaker of the Lok Sabha ahead of the election.

TMC leader Deepak Adhikari took oath as an MP.

PM Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reached the Parliament ahead of the Lok Sabha Speaker election.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived at the Parliament ahead of Lok Sabha Speaker election.

NDA candidate for the position of the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla reached the Parliament.

Delhi: NDA candidate for Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla offered prayers at his residence. The election for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker will take place shortly.

Mamata Banerjee-led TMC will vote in favour of Congress candidate K Suresh. 

We appeal to Congress not to contest, said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju ahead of elections for Lok Sabha elections.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi spoke to TMC chief Mamata Banerjee seeking support for party candidate K Suresh in the Lok Sabha Speaker election.

Mamata Banerjee held a meeting with TMC MPs ahead of Lok Sabha Speaker election. She will take the final decision on supporting I.N.D.I.A candidate K Suresh.

Congress MP Pramod Tiwari has blamed the BJP for the Lok Sabha Speaker election, accusing it of breaking democratic traditions and fostering a lust for power. Tiwari insists that the Speaker's post should go unopposed to the BJP, while the Deputy Speaker post should be reserved for the Congress and I.N.D.I.A Alliance.

A third-term MP, Om Birla is also a three-term former Rajasthan MLA and has risen through the ranks in the BJP, while, K Suresh, his rival for the Speaker's post, is a eighth-term MP from Kerala and hails from a Dalit community.

If Om Birla, the BJP MP from Kota, is elected, it will be fifth time that a Speaker would serve beyond the tenure of one Lok Sabha. Though Congress leader Balram Jakhar is the only presiding officer to have served two complete terms extending seventh and eighth Lok Sabha.

With the NDA having 293 MPs in its kitty and the I.N.D.I.A bloc 233, numbers clearly favour Birla in Lok Sabha, which currently has 542 members after Rahul Gandhi resigned from one of the two seats he was elected from.
At least three independent members also support the opposition.

Union ministers Piyush Goyal of the BJP and Lalan Singh of the JD(U) accused the opposition of resorting to pressure politics and putting forth preconditions despite senior ministers' assurance that its demand will be considered when the time to pick the Deputy Speaker comes. "There can be no pressure politics," Union minister and JD(U) leader Lalan Singh told reporters, while Goyal said democracy cannot be run on preconditions.

A brief interaction involving Congress leader KC Venugopal and DMK's TR Baalu from the Opposition side and Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and JP Nadda, who is also the BJP president, at Singh's office in Parliament to evolve a consensus ended in acrimony as both sides stuck to their position. Both opposition leaders walked out, with Venugopal accusing the government of not following the "convention" of an opposition candidate for the Deputy Speaker's position and announcing the decision to field a candidate against Birla.

The opposition's last-minute decision to go for a rare contest came after senior BJP leaders did not agree to its precondition that the I.N.D.I.A bloc must be offered the post of Deputy Speaker in lieu of supporting Birla, who is the clear favourites in case of an election.

The ruling BJP-led NDA on Tuesday maintained its streak of continuity in its third term by fielding previous Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for the crucial parliamentary position again, but its bid for a consensus was thwarted by the Opposition which forced an election by nominating Kodikunnil Suresh as its candidate.

A rift has emerged within the I.N.D.I.A. bloc as the Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday claimed that his party was not consulted about K Suresh's candidature as the Opposition's joint nominee for the Lok Sabha Speaker post.

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP is likely to support NDA candidate Om Birla in Wednesday's Lok Sabha Speaker election in case its support is needed. The party has four Lok Sabha members. However, the party's Rajampet MP PV Midhun Reddy said YSRCP is yet to announce its decision and it will be disclosed on Wednesday.

The Congress on Tuesday declared that Rahul Gandhi will be the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the 18th Lok Sabha. The decision was made at a meeting of floor leaders of the I.N.D.I.A bloc held at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

The Lok Sabha will witness a rare election for the Speaker's post – the first since 1976 – as Congress member Kodikunnil Suresh has been made the opposition candidate against NDA nominee Om Birla.