‘I Advised PM Not To Come, Congress MPs Planned Something Unprecedented’: Om Birla On Speech Row | India News

Last Updated:February 05, 2026, 17:02 IST

Om Birla said he had prior information suggesting that Congress MPs were planning something “unprecedented” inside the Lok Sabha.

File photo of the Lok Sabha.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday said he had advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to come to the House on Wednesday after receiving inputs that Congress MPs were planning an “unprecedented” disruption when the Prime Minister was scheduled to reply to the President’s Address.

Explaining his decision, Birla said, “…When the Prime Minister was supposed to respond to the President’s address in the House, I received information that several Congress MPs could have created an inappropriate incident near the Prime Minister’s chair. If such an incident had occurred, it would have torn apart the democratic traditions of the country. To prevent this, I requested the Prime Minister not to come to the House…”.

When the Lok Sabha resumed on Wednesday, the Chair adjourned the House till Thursday (February 5) amid repeated disruptions by the opposition over a variety of issues.

Opposition Says ‘PM Hiding’

After Birla’s remarks, opposition MPs accused the Prime Minister of hiding behind the Lok Sabha Speaker. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “PM is hiding behind the Speaker. They (BJP) are making the Speaker say all this. Yesterday, he did not have the guts to come to the House because three women were standing before the bench. What nonsense is this? There is no discussion because the govt doesn’t want discussion to happen.”

“There is no question of anybody raising any hands on the Prime Minister or hurt him or any such thing. There is no question. So, it is absolutely wrong of anybody to say that there was any such plan. There was no such plan,” she said in response to a question.

“I am not aware of the context of what the Speaker is communicating to the Prime Minister. But I don’t believe there are any unpleasant or risky situations in the House. All members are entitled to be in the House, and Parliament is not functioning because the government is not giving the opposition space to have its say,” said Congress MP Karti Chidambaram.

BJP Hits Back

However, the BJP hit back at Congress and other opposition MPs, accusing them of using women as shields to insult the Prime Minister. Calling it a “black day for parliamentary democracy”, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused the Congress of attempting a “supari (hit job)” against the PM in the Lok Sabha. “It shows that much like Indira- Rahul too has an Emergency Mindset. This is an assault on the People of India not just PM,” he added.

“This is not just an insult to the Prime Minister—it is an insult to Parliament and to the faith in India’s democracy. On one hand, the Prime Minister speaks about women being the backbone of the nation and works for their empowerment across sectors,” said BJP MP Dharmshila Gupta. “On the other hand, the opposition servants of the dynasty are working to insult the Prime Minister—the country and the world are watching. I strongly condemn this kind of action by the opposition.”

“Yesterday’s incident is very worrisome. We see the culture of opposition in the parliament. They make noise, they raise slogans, everything is fine. But yesterday, the Congress members, keeping the women MPs in front, who surrounded the chair of the Prime Minister, when the Prime Minister was about to enter, and their expressions, they did not look normal from anywhere,” BJP’s Manoj Tiwari told IANS.

Senior BJP leader Ravishankar Prasad said such an incident has not happened before in the history of the Parliament where the Prime Minister was forcibly prevented from speaking. “What happened in the Speaker’s chamber, what the opposition and the Congress members did, and what they want to achieve? Parliament is a place for debate; express your views within the limits of the law. What kind of coercion is this?” he told ANI.

What Happened Yesterday?

According to sources, women MPs from the Opposition, largely from the Congress, positioned themselves near the Prime Minister’s seat in the Lok Sabha, blocking the aisle through which he would have walked to reach it.

Also Read: Congress Women MPs Surrounded PM’s Seat Before Speech, Refused To Budge: Inside Lok Sabha Ruckus

The sources said Congress MPs Varsha Gaikwad, Jyotimani and others remained near the Prime Minister’s seat and did not move even after Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw attempted to persuade them. Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra later told news agency ANI that the Centre “cannot prepare opposition speech… we will speak what we want”.

Sources further claimed that Opposition women MPs had reached the House even before proceedings began and were planning to disrupt the Prime Minister’s address. Their conduct was described as “very aggressive”, with sources suggesting there could be “another attempt tomorrow” to interrupt his speech.

The government, the sources said, believed that the MPs might attempt to gherao the Prime Minister as he walked into the House, prompting the decision to adjourn proceedings for the day. As a result, Prime Minister Modi’s address was deferred after the Lok Sabha was adjourned.

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