Om Birla reacts to allegations of muting, says Speaker has no control of mics

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday took strong exception to Opposition members accusing the Chair of muting their microphones in the House and urged the Opposition to respect the role of the Speaker.

“It has come as a shock to me that many MPs have blamed the Speaker for muting the mic. The Speaker only announces the name of the individual who would speak, and the control of the mics are not with the Speaker,” he said, adding that Speakers from all political parties run the House in the same way.

Last week, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi had alleged that his mic was muted when he was speaking on the NEET issue.

Birla on Monday also took exception to members adding extra statements at the beginning or end of their oath.

“According to Article 99 of the Indian Constitution, it is a constitutional obligation of every MP to take oath as a member of this House... Adding any statement at the beginning or end of the oath is beyond the constitutional regulations. Members must refrain from indulging in that,” he said adding that the oath has its own rules and regulations and those must be respected.

Birla also congratulated the Indian men’s cricket team and captain Rohit Sharma for their victory in the ICC Men’s World Cup 2024 held in Barbados.