The opposition INDIA bloc has decided to move a no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
The move follows days of heightened tensions in Parliament between the government and the opposition, triggered by the Speaker's refusal to let Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi speak. The rift further intensified after the Speaker accused some Congress memebers of plotting an "unforeseen act" against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha.
As opposition protests continued on Tuesday, the Lok Sabha was adjourned till noon, soon after it assembled.
Opposition leaders had earlier warned that, with no conciliatory steps from the government, protests would escalate over the denial of Rahul Gandhi’s chance to speak in the House, potentially derailing debates on the Union Budget 2026–27.
Opposition parties, led by the Congress has been protesting inside and outside the Parliament against the Speaker refusing to allow Rahul Gandhi to speak on former Army Chief General MM Naravane's unpublished 'memoir', in which he makes some statements involving PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in connection with the 2020 India-China standoff.
Eight Congress MPs were suspended by the Speaker on February 3, amid continuous protests demanding to let the LoP speak on the issue.
Days later, the Speaker accused the Congress MPs of planning an "unforeseen act" against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the discussion on the President's address.
Opposition parties have decided to move a resolution seeking the removal of Speaker Om Birla.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the INDIA bloc leaders, chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, on Monday morning.
The bloc also decided to participate in today’s Budget discussion.
The Opposition parties on Tuesday submitted a notice of no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
The notice was moved after talks between Opposition leaders, including KC Venugopal and Kodikunnil Suresh, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju failed to yield any results.
The notice was submitted to Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh.
The Opposition, in the no-confidence notice moved under Article 94(c), said that the Lok Sabha Speaker has been conducting the business of the House in a “blatantly partisan manner.”
Congress MP Manickam Tagore took to his official X handle, and put out a post saying, “The Opposition has placed its faith in constitutional propriety. While holding the Hon’ble Speaker in personal regard, we are pained and anguished by the consistent denial of opportunities to Opposition MPs to raise issues of public importance. After many years, a no-confidence notice against the Speaker has been moved,an extraordinary step born out of extraordinary circumstances.”
The Opposition has placed its faith in constitutional propriety.
— Manickam Tagore .B🇮🇳மாணிக்கம் தாகூர்.ப (@manickamtagore) February 10, 2026
While holding the Hon’ble Speaker in personal regard, we are pained and anguished by the consistent denial of opportunities to Opposition MPs to raise issues of public importance.
After many years, a no-confidence… pic.twitter.com/DwGElhoZYM
After days of repeated adjournments and disruptions in the Parliament amid opposition protests over the Speaker's refusal to let Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi speak in the House, the Lok Sabha on Tuesday took up the discussion on the Union Budget.
When the House assembled at 2 pm after two adjournments, Krishna Prasad Tenneti, who was in the Chair, asked Congress member Shashi Tharoor to initiate the debate, and the Thiruvananthapuram MP started speaking on the issue.
The thaw came soon after opposition parties submitted a notice to bring a resolution to remove Om Birla as Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Since February 2, the Lok Sabha has witnessed unruly scenes and repeated disruptions that led to the suspension of seven Congress members and one CPI(M) member for the rest of the Budget session.
The Opposition parties on Tuesday submitted a notice for the rsolution to remove Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, alleging that he had acted in a "blatantly partisan" manner in conducting the business of the House and "abused" the constitutional office he occupies.
However, though there have been attempts in the past to remove the Speaker, none have been successful.
The Speaker can be removed from office by a resolution passed by the House through a simple majority. Article 94C of the Constitution has provisions for such a move.
"There are precedents of resolutions being moved. However, none has been adopted so far. The reason: governments have a majority," said former Lok Sabha secretary general P D T Achary.
Describing the Budget as an "underwhelming" and a "squandered opportunity," Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday likened it to rearranging air bags on a crashing car while assuring the passengers that the chassis is sturdy and they will feel better afterwards.
Initiating the debate in Lok Sabha on the Union Budget, Tharoor quoted Mirza Ghalib's famous Urdu couplet -- 'Dil ko khush rakhne ko yeh khayaal achcha hai' -- to attack the government and said the real weakness of the budget lies in implementation as rhetoric is not matched by reality.
"This is headline management -- where promises are loud like that horn, budgets are grand, but delivery is conspicuously absent. The Budget this year has landed with a thud, not because of what it contains, but because of what it omits. Behind claims of fiscal prudence lie a more uncomfortable reality: the Indian state is shrinking not by design, but by compulsion," the Congress MP said.
TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday slammed the Union Budget 2026, pointing out lack of fund allocation or announcements for West Bengal.
"Finance Minister spoke for 85 minutes. Bengal was not even mentioned once. Even the freight corridor from Dankuni, referenced in this very budget, was originally announced by the then Railway Minister in 2009, Mamata Banerjee, who is now the CM of West Bengal," he said.
Banerjee also accused the BJP-led Centre of practising "subscription-based federalism."
"Constitution promises equality among states. But this Government practises preference; allies are funded while opponents are starved. This is not a model of cooperative federalism; this is a model of subscription-based federalism," he said.
Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav dubbed the interim trade agreement with the United States as "one-sided" and alleged that it will hurt the farming community, as agricultural imports will hit farming in India.
He also said the agreement will damage the prospects of the industry and push back the 'Made in India' and 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India)' initiatives of the government.
He questioned the delay in reaching an agreement with the US, saying that if this is what India gets in return, this could have taken place 11 months ago.
Referring to the Union Budget presented on February 1, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister alleged that it is "directionless" and does not help in fulfilling the dreams of a developed India by 2047.
He said the interim agreement will flood Indian markets with US agri products and the farmers will have nothing to grow in their fields.
He said the Budget too has nothing for the farmers who will be unable to save for the future.
He claimed that while "invisible people" will benefit from the Budget, the government has forgotten the poor, Dalits, minorities and women.
Speaker Om Birla will not preside over Lok Sabha proceedings till the issue pertaining to his removal from the office is settled citing moral grounds, sources said.
Separately, Article 96 of the Constitution bars a speaker or a deputy speaker to preside the House sitting while a resolution for his removal from office is under consideration.
Birla has a constitutional right to defend himself in the House if the resolution is discussed in the Lok Sabha.
He has, meanwhile, directed Lok Sabha Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh to examine the notice served by the opposition for moving a resolution to remove him from office, the sources said.
