Newly elected Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has said that he won't allow chanting of religious slogans or heckling in Parliament as seen on Tuesday when some opposition MPs were being sworn in.
Birla said that he didn't think Parliament is the place for sloganeering and displaying placards, and members can take to the streets if they want to demonstrate. “Whatever people want to say here, whatever allegations they have, however they want to attack the government they can, but they can’t come to the gallery and do all this.”
The speaker added that he can't give any assurances that such heckling would not happen again. He said that it was a different case when there are debates, but he will try to run the House by the rules. “During a debate, it is different. Every time there are different circumstances. What are the circumstances is decided by the person sitting in the speaker’s chair.”
Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury urged Birla to be impartial and give enough opportunities to the opposition to raise matters of public concerns. Chowdhury decried raising of religious slogans in the House during oath-taking of members, saying there was a need to strengthen the social fabric of the society. Birla assured the members that he will run the House in an impartial manner and everyone will be heard.
MPs in the House caused disruptions by chanting religious slogans when several members took oath on Tuesday. Chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’, ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ were heard during the swearing in.
When BJP's Unnao MP Sakshi Maharaj took his oath, members heard yelling ‘mandir wahi banayenge’, referring to the demand for constructing the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Maharaj took his oath in Sanskrit and in the end, uttered ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Jai Sri Ram’.
Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi was also greeted by chants of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Vande Mataram’ as he proceeded to take oath. He gestured the crowd to raise their voices and continue yelling. He took his oath, ending it with ‘Jai Bheem’, ‘Takbir’, ‘Allahu Akbar’ and ‘Jai Hind’.
(With inputs from agencies)