New Delhi, June 26: In his first speech as Leader of the Opposition of the 18th Lok Sabha, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that it was important that the voice of the opposition be allowed in the House. He said he hoped that the opposition would be allowed to raise the voice of people in the House with cooperation and trust.
Rahul Gandhi said that it was important that the voice of the opposition be allowed in this House and that the opposition wanted the House to function “often and well,” adding that it was very important that cooperation happen with trust.
The Leader of the Opposition began his speech by congratulating Om Birla for being elected speaker of the Lok Sabha for a second term.
“Mr Speaker, this House represents the voice of the people of India and you, sir, are the final arbiter of that voice. Of course, the government has political power, but the opposition also represents the people of India,” he said.
Pointing out that this time the opposition represents significantly more voices of the Indian people than last time, Gandhi stressed that it was very important that the voice of the opposition be allowed to be represented in the House.
“This time, the opposition represents significantly more of the voice of the people of India than it did last time. The opposition would like to assist you in your work and would want the house to function often and well. It is very important that cooperation happens on the basis of trust,” he said.
“It is very important that the voice of the opposition be allowed to be represented in this house. I am sure that you will allow us to raise the voice of the people. The question is not how efficiently the House runs, but how many voices of India will be heard in this House,” said Gandhi.
“So the idea that you can run the House efficiently by silencing the voice of the opposition is a non-democratic idea. The people of the country expect the opposition to protect the Constitution,” he stated.
“We are confident that by allowing the opposition to speak and represent the people of India, you will fulfil your duty of protecting the Constitution,” added Gandhi.
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate and MP from Kota, Om Birla, was elected as the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha after the motion for the same was moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seconded by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
The motion was adopted by the House through a voice vote.
The house echoed with ‘Ayes’ and ‘Noes’ and the pro-tem speaker, Bhartruhari Mahtab, declared Om Birla as the Speaker of the lower house.
The opposition, which had sought K Suresh as the speaker candidate of the INDIA bloc did not press for a division vote.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi also extended wishes to Birla and accompanied him to the chair along with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and PM Modi.
ANI
