New Delhi: Back in the Speaker’s chair after the ‘no-confidence’ motion moved against him was defeated, Om Birla on Thursday (March 12) returned to usual business by resuming much of the actions that had led the opposition to move the no-trust resolution against him. The day began with Birla adjourning the house within two minutes of proceedings starting. When proceedings resumed at noon, the Speaker dismissed the adjournment notices that had been submitted. He then cut short the Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s speech, as Gandhi referred to Union oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri’s “friend” – the US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – while speaking on India’s energy security concerns amid the West Asia conflict. In his first remarks after returning to the Chair following the no-confidence motion, Birla said that the House would only function according to the rules, defended the suspension of MPs as “difficult decisions” and said that two days that had been “wasted” due to the discussion on the no-confidence motion must be compensated by getting the House to function for longer hours.‘You speak on that’While the motion against Birla, signed by 118 MPs, was brought last month in the immediate aftermath of Gandhi not being allowed to speak in the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address debate, on his first day back, Birla once again cut short Gandhi’s speech.Gandhi, while speaking on concerns around India’s energy security amid the West Asia conflict, said that “pain has just started” and the puzzle behind US “allowing” India to purchase Russian oil was a compromise, pointing to Puri who he called a friend of Epstein’s. This led Birla to immediately cut short Gandhi, and he asked him to only speak on the energy crisis.Amid the uproar, Birla said that the leader of opposition had indeed been allowed to speak on the LPG shortage in the country – for which he had given a notice – and cannot speak about other issues. “I have said in the morning also that the House runs according to rules. The notice that was given you speak on that. If you wanted to speak on this issue, you should have given notice, I would have decided whether to allow it or not,” said Birla.Earlier in the day, when he had returned to the Speaker’s chair at noon, Birla said that there are no special rules for anyone, and no one is above the rules of the House, not even the prime minister. “Some members said that the leader of opposition is stopped from speaking or is not allowed to speak. I want to clarify that whether it is a minister, or a member or the leader of opposition, everyone is allowed to speak in accordance with the rules,” he said. “Some members also believe that the leader of opposition is above the House and can speak on any issue. No one has any special rights. I want to clarify that the House runs according to rules, these rules have been handed down to me and are equal for all members. Whether it is the prime minister, or any minister, they have to take prior permission, give notice and then speak. No one has special rights to go above the rules.”A ‘partisan’ SpeakerIn the first half of the budget session last month, 118 MPs had signed on a notice to move a no-confidence motion against Birla alleging “partisan” behaviour. The debate on the motion was conducted for two days, with opposition members saying that the move was to “safeguard the Constitution”. Opposition MPs referred to various instances in Birla’s tenure including the unprecedented suspension of 100 MPs in December 2023, not allowing opposition members to speak, muting their microphones, not allowing discussions in the House as well as not allowing Gandhi to speak during the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address when he sought to refer to former Army Chief General M.M. Naravane’s book on the Modi government’s handling of the border crisis with China in 2020. The reply to the motion was delivered by Union home minister Amit Shah who focused much of his speech on Gandhi. It was defeated by a voice vote, with no remarks from the mover of the motion Congress MP Mohammad Jawed, amid an uproar from the opposition demanding an apology from Shah for using unparliamentary language. Shah used the word “saala”.MicrophonesIn his remarks, Birla responded to allegations of controlling the microphones and switching them off when opposition members speak.Birla said that the “Chair does not have any button to control the mics.” As opposition members raised protests Birla asked them to ask Congress MP Kumari Selja, who is also part of the panel of chairpersons in the House.“Members of the opposition too – when they preside over the proceedings – they are also aware. Only those who are allowed to speak [by the chair], their mic is switched on,” he said.Women MPsLast month, Birla had said that he had advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi to not come to the House to deliver his reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address because any unforeseen situation could have arisen with women MPs surrounding his chair. While the opposition has condemned his statement and accused Modi of running away from the House, Birla said that he did what was “necessary to maintain decorum”.“I have always tried to ensure that women MPs get time to speak, I have also given them priority. But the way in which some members crossed the well and went towards the Treasury benches, raised slogans, showed banners, could have led to unforeseen circumstances,” he said. “To avoid this, to ensure order was my duty. For this reason I asked the leader of the House to not come to the House. Under such circumstances, I did what was necessary to maintain decorum in the House.”‘Painful decisions’Birla also defended the unprecedented number of suspensions of MPs during his tenure including 8 MPs who have been suspended from this session and said that such “difficult decisions” cause him pain but have to be taken to maintain decorum.“I try not to suspend any members. I have personal relations with everyone, above party lines. But when I make such difficult decisions it pains me,” he said. “We have to introspect about why difficult decisions like suspensions have to be taken. I try to ensure that decorum is maintained in the House. But when members don’t listen I have to adjourn the House.”Birla said that the two days that had been “wasted” in the debate should now be compensated.“I would also say that the two days that have been wasted in this discussion, should be made up for. We should sit even till late night to make up for these 14 hours so that the people of the country believe that the House is thinking about their concerns.”