The Trinamool Congress (TMC) did not join other Opposition parties in signing the resolution seeking the removal of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. While agreeing with the objective, the party’s national general secretary and Lok Sabha leader Abhishek Banerjee argued for an alternate path of “restraint” and a “constructive and calibrative” approach.
Though TMC appeared reluctant to resort immediately to the “last option” of moving for the removal of the Speaker, it expressed no such hesitation in pursuing an impeachment motion against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. In the CEC’s case, Mr. Banerjee said, all avenues had been “explored and exhausted.”
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Mr. Banerjee said the party had “no problem signing the no‑confidence motion against the Speaker,” but insisted on first sending a letter outlining the Opposition’s grievances. “Let it be incumbent on the Speaker to act on the four grievances. And if he doesn’t act, then we can unitedly move a no-confidence motion,” he said. Minutes after his remarks, Congress leaders met Lok Sabha Secretary-General Utpal Kumar Singh to submit the resolution seeking Mr. Birla’s removal under Article 94(c) of the Constitution.
