Parliament set to write Amrit Kaal’s future under Om Birla: Modi

As India makes efforts to modernise and fulfill its aspirations, the Parliament under Om Birla’s leadership is ready to “write the future of Amrit Kaal”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday as he congratulated the Rajasthan lawmaker on his election as the Lok Sabha Speaker for a second consecutive term.

Modi, who moved the motion for Birla’s re-election, expressed confidence that the Lower House will greatly benefit from the Speaker’s insights and experience. He also lauded the speaker for his condemnation of the Emergency.

“Today, the country is making all efforts to make India modern to fulfill its aspirations. I believe that the new Parliament House, under your (Birla’s) leadership, will also write the future of Amrit Kaal,” Modi said.

“We entered the new Parliament House under your chairmanship and you took many effective and important decisions to make the parliamentary working system effective and responsible and hence, helped in strengthening democracy,” he added.

On Wednesday, Birla became the speaker for a second consecutive time after defeating the Opposition’s candidate Kodikunnil Suresh in a voice vote, scripting history as only the fourth man ever and the first this millennium to win the rare poll.

The unprecedented election – the first in nearly half a century – was conducted after talks between the government and Opposition broke down on Tuesday over the deputy speaker’s post. The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) picked Birla to take on senior Congress MP Suresh, who filed his nomination just minutes before the 12pm deadline on Tuesday.

“Being appointed to this post for the second time in this important period of Amrit Kaal is a huge responsibility for you (Birla),” Modi said. “With your five years of experience and our five years of experience with you, we are confident you will guide us in the coming five years and you will play a very important role in fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the country in this House,” he added.

“You have been setting new standards and values at every step. You created a new record by assuming the responsibility of the Speaker for the second time. After Balram Jakhar, you got the opportunity to hold this post again after completing five years,” he added.

Modi also said that there was a period of 20 years when most of the speakers either did not contest the election or did not win again. “You can understand how difficult the job of a speaker is that it becomes difficult for him to win again. You have come back victorious, you have created a new history,” he told Birla.

From GMC Balayogi (who died in a helicopter crash) to Sumitra Mahajan, no Lok Sabha speaker got re-elected to the House in the last 20 years.

Recounting the achievements of the 17th Lok Sabha, Modi said: “This Parliament building is not just four walls. In your five years, the productivity of this House was 97%, which was the highest in 25 years. During Covid-19, you did not allow the work of Parliament to stop. Your decisions helped us to work during that difficult period. The Lok Sabha recorded 170% productivity during the Covid pandemic.”

He also said that under Birla’s tenure, Parliament shifted to a new building and the House passed several landmark legislations, including the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’, Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill and the three new criminal laws, which are slated to come into force in July.

Birla’s re-election assumes importance as the 18th Lok Sabha comprises a stronger-than-expected Opposition and includes Congress lawmaker Rahul Gandhi, arguably Modi’s fiercest critic as Leader of Opposition.

Several Opposition leaders have already reminded Birla about their space and rights while some have openly said that the government’s old ways of running Parliament won’t work anymore.