Oppn making false allegations against Speaker, says Anurag

BJP MP from Hamirpur, Anurag Thakur, on Wednesday accused the Opposition of making false allegations and described Om Birla as an impartial speaker who gave all the members a chance to speak in the House.

Participating in a debate in Lok Sabha on the resolution to remove Birla from the Speaker’s post, the former Union minister alleged that Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was in fact a “Leader of Propaganda” who was tarnishing the image of institutions just to stay in the headlines.

He accused the Opposition of creating a false narrative by stating that Birla targeted their leaders by expunging their remarks. Remarks of several ruling party MPs, including those of his own, have been expunged on multiple occasions, Thakur said, “but we have never objected to the wisdom applied by the Chair”.

Alleging that Gandhi has “FOMO” (fear of missing out) of being in the news, Thakur said he speaks more outside the House than inside.

“Rahul Gandhi thinks the rules are not for him, but he is the rule... One family thinks that it is above the rules and procedures of the House and above the Constitution,” Thakur alleged.

Taking a dig at the Opposition leader, he said “some people come to the House without any common sense, civic sense or constitutional sense” and that their only aim was to create “trouble”. Likening Birla to a school principal who wants to enforce discipline, Thakur said the Opposition was free to quit the school if they did not like the principal.

Om Birla, he stressed, will remain the Speaker of Lok Sabha.

The Hamirpur MP added that Birla has been impartial, gave more opportunities for Opposition MPs to speak in the House, and always encouraged first-time members to raise issues of urgent matters concerning their constituencies.