'House Should Function On Your Signals, Not The Other Way Round': Akhilesh Yadav's Message To Speaker Om Birla

Akhilesh Yadav, in a message to Speaker Om Birla, stated that the House should function on his signals and not the other way round, adding that it must function without any impartiality.

After BJP MP Om Birla was elected as the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav congratulated him and also issued a sharp message to the Speaker saying that the "House should function on your signals and not the other way round". Yadav, in his message to the Speaker also stressed that he hopes the new Lok Sabha will be carried out in an impartial way without any discrimination between the opposition and the ruling alliance.

"...I congratulate you and extend you best wishes on behalf of all my colleagues. The post that you are occupying has glorious traditions attached to it. We believe that this will continue without any discrimination and as Lok Sabha Speaker you will give equal opportunities and respect to every member and party," Akhilesh Yadav said.

The SP chief, who recently resigned from the UP assembly after winning the Lok Sabha polls also said that the opposition expects the voice of the public representatives will not be stifled and that actions like expulsion will not take place again in the Lok Sabha.

'Impartiality A Great Responsibility Of This Great Position'

"We expect that no public representative's voice will be stifled, nor will an action like expulsion take place again. Your control is on the Opposition but it should be on the ruling side too. The House should function on your signals and not the other way round," Akhilesh Yadav said.

These terse remarks were supposedly made in reference to the record suspension of MPs in the the Parliament's last winter session. Trinamool Congress's Mahua Moitra was also expelled on grounds of ethical misconduct.

In his two-minute sarcastic speech, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also said that the Opposition hopes the Speaker would be impartial and respect the Opposition as much as the ruling dispensation, adding that they should be "let to present their side".

"Impartiality is a great responsibility of this great position...We stand with all your just decisions...I hope that you would respect Opposition as much as you respect the ruling dispensation and let them present their side," he said.

Om Birla claimed the Speaker post for the second time after winning the historic election against the Opposition's candidate Congress MP K Suresh.

On Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi was officially announced as the Leader of Opposition. 

'Whatever BJP Did Today Is Just Pretence': Yadav

After the Parliaement session ended, Akhilesh Yadav spoke to news agency ANI where he alleged that whatever BJP did in the Lok Sabha was just a pretence.

Speaker Om Birla, in his first address after being elected to the post, remembered the 'Darks days of Emergency' and stood in silence for those who suffered during that time. Accompanying him, several MPs stood in silence for a few moments with Birla as Congress MPs protested along with other opposition members.

"Whatever the BJP has done today is just pretence. It wasn't just them who went to jail at that time (Emergency)...How long will we look back at the past? Loktantra Rakshak Senani - BJP reduced the facilities given to them. Inflation is on the rise...Will BJP increase the allowance given to Loktantra Rakshak Senani?"' the Samajwadi Party president questioned.