'If the opposition doesn't allow the House to function, we will go for the guillotine': Rijiju

NEW DELHI: Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday said that the debate and subsequent vote over no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will be taken up on March 9.Rijiju said that the second part of the Budget session, scheduled from March 9 to April 2, will be "interesting" as several "important" legislations and a "critical" bill will be presented in Parliament for debate and passage. He warned that if opposition parties continue their protests as they did during the first part of the session, it would ultimately be detrimental to them."On March 9 in the Lok Sabha, we will have the debate on the no-confidence motion moved against the speaker. It is the rule to take it up on the first day. There will be a vote following the debate," Rijiju told news agency PTI.Noting that the second part of the budget session will be interesting, he said, "If the opposition doesn't allow the House to function, we will go for the guillotine. It will be a loss for them," he said.He also said that if the opposition doesn't participate in the debate, it will be their loss.Hinting at a potential crack in the unity of the opposition, Rijiju said the Trinamool Congress did not sign the no-confidence motion against the speaker. "Most of the smaller parties are not in favour of stalling the House. They want to raise their issues, especially ahead of the assembly polls," he said.During the first part of the session, the Lok Sabha experienced disruptions from February 2 onward, following Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's disallowance by the chair from quoting excerpts from former army chief M M Naravane's unpublished memoir, which referenced the India-China conflict in 2020.On February 4, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was unable to respond to the debate on the Motion of Thanks due to protests by the opposition.In an unprecedented move, the Motion of Thanks was passed on February 5 without the customary speech from the prime minister. The Speaker read the Motion of Thanks to the president for her address, and it was passed by voice vote amid sloganeering from opposition members.Birla later stated that he received concrete information suggesting that several Congress MPs might carry out an "unexpected act" near the prime minister's seat, prompting him to advise Modi against attending the House for his address. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra refuted this claim.Subsequently, eight opposition members were suspended for the remainder of the Budget Session for unruly behaviour in the House.Last week, the speaker decided to step aside from his role as the presiding officer of the House, hours after the opposition submitted a motion for his removal from office, alleging that he had acted in a "blatantly partisan" manner.