28 PARLIAMENTARIAN l JULY 2019T
HE Lok Sabha speaker’s represents the dignity of the
House, the freedom of the House and because the House
represents the nation, the Speaker becomes a symbol of
nation’s freedom and liberty. Th erefore, that should be an
honoured position, a free position and should be occupied
always by persons of outstanding ability and impartiality.
Th ese were the views of the fi rst Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar
Lal Nehru which he expressed while felicitating the fi rst Lok Sabha Speaker
Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar.
He apparently had loft y ideas of the chair of Lok Sabha speaker and the
person who occupies it. It is not that the incumbent Speaker in 17th Lok
Sabha, Om Birla fails to match those ideas. He is actually still an untested
commodity. But, even on his fi rst day in the chair, Birla demonstrated what
he is capable of and what can be expected of him.
Birla justifi ed raising of slogans like Jai Shri Ram in the house by fellow
BJP MPs, on the other hand he chided leader of Congress Parliamentary
Party Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury for speaking to fellow party MP Shashi01
02
03
04
Birla is an old aBvp
hand with rss roots
and has been picked
for that reason
Birla assured ls members that he
will remain fair and unbiased,
showing his nervousness about
acceptability
after allowing
sloganeering Birla said
these should be done by
parties outside the house
BJp will need him to pass
Bills like triple talaq as
money Bills, which the
speaker alone can decide
snapshots
lok saBha speaker|om Birla
reeTa siNgH
Reeta Singh is a senior journalist with
over 30 years’ of experience in print
and electronic media. She is also a
social activist, working on
gender issues