Second part of Budget Session all set for stormy start

The second part of the Budget Session of Parliament is set to resume from Monday (March 9, 2026) and is expected to be stormy, with the first item on the agenda being the debate over the Motion of Removal admitted against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.

The resolution has been listed against Congress MPs Mohammad Jawed, K. Suresh and Mallu Ravi and has been signed by 118 Opposition members. Speaker Birla will not be presiding over the proceedings; instead, in the absence of a Deputy Speaker, the senior-most MP in the presiding officers committee, likely BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, may preside over the debate. Speaker Birla is permitted under the rules to be present and may be allotted a seat among Cabinet Ministers of the Government.

Moves to seek the removal of Lok Sabha Speakers are not very common but are not unprecedented, with even the first Speaker of the Lok Sabha, G.V. Mavalankar, being subject to it in 1954, followed by Hukum Singh in 1966. The last such instance was in 1987, against then Speaker Balram Jakhar.

In each of these cases, the motion failed, and the Speaker remained in office. It is expected that in this case too, Mr Birla will sail through as the ruling NDA has a comfortable strength of about 335 seats out of a strength of 543, with the opposition INDIA bloc at 230 MPs falling short of the number to remove the Speaker under Article 94(c) of the Constitution. Senior Ministers of the NDA government are expected to speak during the debate, say government floor managers.

The wording of the resolution claims that the Speaker has “ceased to maintain an impartial attitude necessary to command the confidence of all sections of the House” and alleges that he has disregarded the rights of members while “openly espousing the version of the ruling party on controversial matters”.

The Opposition, which will be meeting on Monday (March 8, 2026) morning for a strategy session at the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge’s office, is hoping to press their point, at least in public discourse, as the numbers show that the motion will be defeated.