Om Birla (born 23 November 1962)[2] is an Indian politician and businessman from Rajasthan. He is the current Speaker of the Lok Sabha since 19 June 2019. He serves as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Kota constituency in Rajasthan since 2014.[3] In 2024, he became the first person in 20 years to be re-elected as an MP to the lower house, after serving as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, and also the one of the only two MPs to be appointed the speaker twice.[4][5] He was also a member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly representing Kota South Assembly constituency from 2003 to 2014. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He won the 2024 Lok Sabha Speaker Election as NDA candidate.[6] He is three time MP from from Kota Lok Sabha constituency.[7][3][8]
Om Birla | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Birla | |
| 17th Speaker of the Lok Sabha | |
| Assumed office 19 June 2019 | |
| President | |
| Deputy | Vacant |
| Preceded by | Sumitra Mahajan |
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| Assumed office 16 May 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Ijyaraj Singh |
| Constituency | Kota |
| Member of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly | |
| In office December 2003 – May 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Shanti Kumar Dhariwal (from Kota before bifurcation) |
| Succeeded by | Sandeep Sharma |
| Constituency | Kota South |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 November 1962 Kota, Rajasthan, India |
| Political party | Bharatiya Janata Party |
| Spouse |
Amita Birla (m. 1991) |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence(s) | 20, Akbar Road, New Delhi, Delhi, India 80-B, Dusshera Scheme, Shakti Nagar, Kota, Rajasthan, India[1] |
| Alma mater | Govt. Commerce College, Kota Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University |
| Occupation | [1] |
| Website | Official website |
Early life
editOm Birla was born to Shrikrishna Birla and Shakuntala Devi in a Baniya Hindu family. He completed his master's degree in commerce from Government Commerce College, Kota, and Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer.[3] He married Amita Birla in 1991 and has two daughters, Akansha and Anjali.[9]
Political career
editLegislative Assembly
editOm Birla won his first assembly elections contesting from Kota South in 2003. He defeated Shanti Dhariwal from Congress by a margin of 10,101 votes. In the next assembly elections, he defended his seat with a comfortable margin of 24,300 votes to his nearest candidate Ram Kishan Verma from Congress in 2008. Before becoming a Member of Parliament, he won his third assembly election against Pankaj Mehta (Congress) by close to 50,000 votes in 2013. During his tenure in 2003–08, he was the Parliamentary Secretary (MoS rank) in Rajasthan Government.[10][1]
Member of Parliament
editAs the BJP candidate for the Kota constituency, Birla was elected to the 16th, 17th and 18th Lok Sabha.[1]
In the 16th Lok Sabha, he was a member of the Standing Committee on Energy and Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.[1]
His selection for the post of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha for the first time was a surprise.[10] He was elected as speaker for the second time in June 2024.[11]
Speaker of the Lok Sabha
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On the 19 June 2019 Om Birla was elected Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha, following a motion for election moved by Prime Minister Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam parties also moved notices for Birla and urged him to be impartial as presiding officer of the Lower House.[12] The parliamentary convention for the Republic of India is for the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha to come from the Opposition benches. As of March 2021, uniquely in the history of the Republic, the Lok Sabha approaches two years of a vacant Deputy Speaker seat.[13] Between December 21 & 23, 2023 around 100 MPs of opposition in Loksabha were suspended by him which is considered to be the highest so far in any loksabha tenure & many bills were passed by the house during that time. He won the 2024 Lok Sabha Speaker Election as the NDA candidate by voice vote.[3][8]
Posts held
edit- District president, Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha, Kota.[14] (1987–91)
- State president, Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha, Rajasthan State. (1991–1997)
- National vice president, Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha (1997–2003)
- MLA From Kota South (2003-2015)
- Member of Parliament from Kota (2014-Present)
- Vice Chairman, National Co-operative Consumer Federation Limited.
- Chairman, CONFED, Jaipur. (June 1992 to June 1995)
- Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha (from 19 June 2019 to 3 March 2024)
- Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha (from 26 June 2024–present)
Controversies
editIn December 2023, some persons breached the parliament security and entered the Lok Sabha raising slogans. When opposition MPs demanded debate on it, Birla didn't permit, instead suspended 100 Opposition MPs for protesting against it.[15] It is the record breaking suspension by any Lok Sabha Speaker.[16]
Under the chairmanship of Om Birla, a total of 221 Bills were passed in the 17th Lok Sabha. However more than a third of them were passed with less than an hour of discussion, 13% with 1-2 hours of discussion, 22% with 2-3 hours of discussion, and 30% with more than 3 hours of debate. Just 16% of the Bills were referred to standing committees for further scrutiny, declining from 28% in the previous Lok Sabha and well below the 60% and 71% when the first and second UPA governments were in power.[17]
Danish Ali Case
editBirla as the Speaker of Lok Sabha did little when Lok Sabha MP Danish Ali was abused by a BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri on the floor of the House in the name of Islamic faith he pursued. Birla only said that Bidhuri would face strict action if he repeated his conduct.[18]
Switching off mics of opposition leaders
editBirla has also been accused by opposition leaders that during the tenure of 17th Lok Sabha on many occasions their mics were switched off when they were speaking in the House and Sansad TV channel covering its proceedings focused cameras on the Speaker rather than on leaders from the opposition benches delivering speeches.[18]
No action to fill deputy speaker’s post[18]
By convention the post of Deputy Speaker should have been occupied by a Lok Sabha Member belonging to a opposition party. But that convention was not adhered to in 17th Lok Sabha and most importantly Article 93 of the Constitution mandating, among others, that “The House of the People shall, as soon as may be, choose two members of the House to be respectively Speaker and Deputy Speaker thereof” has been violated without picking up any one Member of 17th Lok Sabha as Deputy Speaker. In spite of several letters of opposition parties to Speaker, Om Birla, to initiate action to fill up the post of Deputy Speaker he did precious little to adhere to the Constitutional mandate. [18]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e https://sansad.in/ls/members/biography/4716?from=members
- ^ "Office of the Speaker". Office of the Speaker Lok Sabha. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Om Birla is NDA's candidate for Lok Sabha Speaker for a second time". The Indian Express. 25 June 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
- ^ "Om Birla becomes first Lok Sabha Speaker in 20 years to be re-elected as MP". The Hindu. 4 June 2024. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
- ^ https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/om-birla-wins-elections-for-lok-sabha-speakers-post-re-nominated-for-second-consecutive-term-12756430.html
- ^ "NDA candidate Om Birla elected Speaker of Lok Sabha for 2nd consecutive term". Mathrubhumi. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
New Delhi: Om Birla, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate and Member of Parliament from Kota, Rajasthan, was elected as the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The motion, moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seconded by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, was adopted through a voice vote amidst resounding 'Ayes' and 'Noes' echoing in the house. Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab officially declared Om Birla as the Speaker of the lower house. Interestingly, the opposition, which had nominated K Suresh as the candidate for the INDIA bloc, chose not to press for a division vote.
- ^ https://results.eci.gov.in/PcResultGenJune2024/candidateswise-S2024.htm
- ^ a b "Om Birla wins Lok Sabha Speaker contest, defeats INDIA bloc's K Suresh". India Today. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ Samyak Pandey; Neelam Pandey (18 June 2019). "Om Birla, the new Lok Sabha Speaker has RSS roots and was part of Ram temple movement". ThePrint. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
He got married to Dr Amita Birla on 11 March 1991. The couple has two daughters, Akansha and Anjali.
- ^ a b Roytalukdar, Rakhee. "Lok Sabha elections 2024: Speaker Om Birla to contest against former BJP colleague for Kota seat". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
- ^ "Om Birla elected Lok Sabha Speaker with voice vote; 'allow us to speak,' says Opposition". Indian Express. 26 June 2024. Archived from the original on 26 June 2024.
- ^ "Om Birla Unanimously Elected 17th Lok Sabha Speaker". The Wire. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
- ^ "Convention of electing the Deputy Speaker from the Opposition should be upheld". The Hindu. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
- ^ "BJYM : Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha : भाजयुमो : भारतीय जनता युवा मोर्चा | BJYM : Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha is youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party one of the leading Political Party in India, भाजयुमो : भारतीय जनता युवा मोर्चा". www.bjym.org. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
- ^ "Parliament suspensions: LS count touches 100, only 90 INDIA bloc MPs left in Parliament". The Indian Express. 20 December 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
- ^ Nihalani, Jasmin (21 December 2023). "Record breaking suspension of 146 MPs: Which States and parties affected most | Data". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
- ^ a b "How 17th Lok Sabha performed: One-third of Bills passed under an hour, record suspensions, lengthy interruptions". The Indian Express. 16 February 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Om Birla's Unenviable Track Record as Speaker". thewire.in. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
External links
edit- Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website