Om Birla

Om Birla (born 23 November 1962)[2] is an Indian

Om Birla
politician and businessman from Rajasthan. He is currently
serving as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha since 19 June 2019,
when he was re-elected for a second term in June 2024. He
serves as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Kota
constituency in Rajasthan since 2014.[3] In 2024, he became
the first person in twenty years to be re-elected as an MP to
the lower house, after serving as the Speaker of the Lok
Sabha, and also the one of the only two MPs to be appointed
the speaker twice.[4][5]

He was also a member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly

representing Kota South Assembly constituency from 2003 to
2014. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He won
the 2024 Lok Sabha Speaker Election as NDA candidate.[6]
He is a three-time MP from Kota Lok Sabha
constituency.[7][3][8] Om Birla has often come under scrutiny Official portrait, 2024
for his alleged bias towards the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party 17th Speaker of the Lok Sabha
(BJP) for his actions like selectively bowing down to Prime
Incumbent
Minister Modi while in his capacity as the Speaker.[9] He has
Assumed office
also been criticized for record and unfair expulsion of
19 June 2019
opposition members[10]
President Ram Nath Kovind
Early life Droupadi Murmu

Om Birla was born to Shrikrishna Birla and Shakuntala Devi Deputy vacant
in a Baniya Hindu family. He completed his master's degree Preceded by Sumitra Mahajan
in commerce from Government Commerce College, Kota, and Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer.[3] He Incumbent
married Amita Birla in 1991 and has two daughters, Akansha
Assumed office
and Anjali.[11]
16 May 2014
Preceded by Ijyaraj Singh
Political career Constituency Kota, Rajasthan
Member of Rajasthan Legislative
Legislative Assembly Assembly
In office
Om Birla won his first assembly elections contesting from
December 2003 – May 2014
Kota South in 2003. He defeated Shanti Dhariwal from
Preceded by Shanti Kumar
Congress by a margin of 10,101 votes. In the next assembly
Dhariwal (from Kota
elections, he defended his seat with a comfortable margin of
before bifurcation)
24,300 votes to his nearest candidate Ram Kishan Verma
from Congress in 2008. Before becoming a Member of Succeeded by Sandeep Sharma
Parliament, he won his third assembly election against
Pankaj Mehta (Congress) by close to 50,000 votes in 2013. Constituency Kota South
During his tenure in 2003–08, he was the Parliamentary Personal details
Secretary (MoS rank) in Rajasthan Government.[12][1]
Born 23 November 1962
Kota, Rajasthan,
Member of Parliament India

As the BJP candidate for the Kota constituency, Birla was Political party Bharatiya Janata
elected to the 16th, 17th and 18th Lok Sabha.[1] Party
Other political National Democratic
In the 16th Lok Sabha, he was a member of the Standing affiliations Alliance
Committee on Energy and Consultative Committee for the
Spouse Amita Birla ​(m. 1991)
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.[1]
Children 2
His selection for the post of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha for Residence(s) 20, Akbar Road,
the first time was unexpected.[12] He was elected as speaker New Delhi, Delhi,
for the second time in June 2024.[13] India
80-B, Dusshera
Scheme, Shakti
Speaker of the Lok Sabha
Nagar, Kota,
On the 19 June 2019 Om Birla was elected Speaker of the 17th Rajasthan, India[1]
Lok Sabha, following a motion for election moved by Prime Alma mater Government
Minister Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Congress
Commerce College,
and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam parties also moved Kota
notices for Birla and urged him to be impartial as presiding Maharshi Dayanand
officer of the Lower House.[14] The parliamentary convention Saraswati University
for the Republic of India is for the Deputy Speaker of the Lok
Occupation Politician ·
Sabha to come from the Opposition benches. As of March
businessperson
2021, uniquely in the history of the Republic, the Lok Sabha [1]
approaches two years of a vacant Deputy Speaker seat.[15]
Between December 21 and 23, 2023 around 100 MPs of Website Official website (http
opposition in Loksabha were suspended by him which is s://www.ombirla.in)
considered to be the highest so far in any Loksabha tenure
and many bills were passed by the house during that time.
He won the 2024 Lok Sabha Speaker Election as the NDA
candidate by voice vote.[3][8]

Posts held
District president, Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha,
Kota.[16] (1987–91)
State president, Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha, Rafael Grossi, IAEA Director General,
Rajasthan State. (1991–1997) met with the Parliamentarians (Inter-
National vice president, Bhartiya Janta Yuva Morcha Parliamentary Union) at a meeting during
(1997–2003) their official visit at the Agency
headquarters in Vienna, Austria
MLA From Kota South (2003-2014)
Member of Parliament from Kota (2014-Present)
Vice Chairman, National Co-operative Consumer Federation Limited.
Chairman, CONFED, Jaipur. (June 1992 to June 1995)
Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha (from 19 June 2019 to 3 March 2024)
 Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha (from 26 June 2024–present)

Controversies

Parliament Security Breach

In December 2023, some persons breached the parliament security and entered the Lok Sabha
raising slogans. When opposition MPs demanded debate on it, Birla didn't permit, instead
suspended 100 Opposition MPs for protesting against it.[17] It is the record breaking suspension by
any Lok Sabha Speaker.[18]

One-third Bills passed within an hour

Under the chairmanship of Om Birla, a total of 221 Bills were passed in the 17th Lok Sabha.
However more than a third of them were passed with less than an hour of discussion, 13% with 1-2
hours of discussion, 22% with 2-3 hours of discussion, and 30% with more than 3 hours of debate.
Just 16% of the Bills were referred to standing committees for further scrutiny, declining from 28%
in the previous Lok Sabha and well below the 60% and 71% when the first and second UPA
governments were in power.[19]

Danish Ali Case

Birla as the Speaker of Lok Sabha did little when Lok Sabha MP Danish Ali was abused by a BJP
MP Ramesh Bidhuri on the floor of the House in the name of Islamic faith he pursued. Birla only
said that Bidhuri would face strict action if he repeated his conduct.[20]

Switching off mics of opposition leaders

Birla has also been accused by opposition leaders that during the tenure of 17th Lok Sabha on many
occasions their mics were switched off when they were speaking in the House and Sansad TV
channel covering its proceedings focused cameras on the Speaker rather than on leaders from the
opposition benches delivering speeches.[20]

No action to fill deputy speaker’s post[20]

By convention the post of Deputy Speaker should have been occupied by a Lok Sabha Member
belonging to a opposition party. But that convention was not adhered to in 17th Lok Sabha and
most importantly Article 93 of the Constitution mandating, among others, that “The House of the
People shall, as soon as may be, choose two members of the House to be respectively Speaker and
Deputy Speaker thereof” has been violated without picking up any one Member of 17th Lok Sabha
as Deputy Speaker. In spite of several letters of opposition parties to Speaker, Om Birla, to initiate
action to fill up the post of Deputy Speaker he did precious little to adhere to the Constitutional
mandate.[20]

Partisanship at an unbiased position

Barely a few hours after being elected as the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha for the second time,
Birla himself passed a resolution against the Emergency that was imposed on the country about 50
years ago by the Congress government led by late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. This was seen as
biased act amid roaring demand by Opposition to discuss on the country’s engulfing issue of
medical examination paper leaks.[21]

References
1. https://sansad.in/ls/members/biography/4716?from=members
2. "Office of the Speaker" (https://speakerloksabha.nic.in/biography.asp). Office of the Speaker
Lok Sabha. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
3. "Om Birla is NDA's candidate for Lok Sabha Speaker for a second time" (https://indianexpress.
com/article/india/om-birla-lok-sabha-speaker-nda-candidate-9413529/). The Indian Express. 25
June 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
4. "Om Birla becomes first Lok Sabha Speaker in 20 years to be re-elected as MP" (https://www.t
hehindu.com/elections/lok-sabha/election-results-2024-om-birla-becomes-first-lok-sabha-speak
er-in-20-years-to-be-re-elected-as-mp/article68250961.ece). The Hindu. 4 June 2024.
ISSN 0971-751X (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0971-751X). Retrieved 25 June 2024.
5. https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/om-birla-wins-elections-for-lok-sabha-speakers-
post-re-nominated-for-second-consecutive-term-12756430.html
6. "NDA candidate Om Birla elected Speaker of Lok Sabha for 2nd consecutive term" (https://engl
ish.mathrubhumi.com/news/india/om-birla-ls-speaker-1.9670006). Mathrubhumi. 26 June 2024.
Retrieved 26 June 2024. "New Delhi: Om Birla, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
candidate and Member of Parliament from Kota, Rajasthan, was elected as the Speaker of the
18th Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The motion, moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
seconded by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, was adopted through a voice vote amidst
resounding 'Ayes' and 'Noes' echoing in the house. Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab
officially declared Om Birla as the Speaker of the lower house. Interestingly, the opposition,
which had nominated K Suresh as the candidate for the INDIA bloc, chose not to press for a
division vote."
7. https://results.eci.gov.in/PcResultGenJune2024/candidateswise-S2024.htm
8. "Om Birla wins Lok Sabha Speaker contest, defeats INDIA bloc's K Suresh" (https://www.indiat
oday.in/india/story/om-birla-wins-lok-sabha-speaker-battle-steer-lower-house-second-term-255
8236-2024-06-26). India Today. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
9. https://thewire.in/politics/by-objecting-to-om-birla-bowing-before-modi-rahul-gandhi-captures-
the-mahatmas-vision
10. https://thewire.in/politics/om-birlas-unenviable-track-record-as-speaker
11. Samyak Pandey; Neelam Pandey (18 June 2019). "Om Birla, the new Lok Sabha Speaker has
RSS roots and was part of Ram temple movement" (https://theprint.in/theprint-profile/om-birla-t
he-new-lok-sabha-speaker-has-rss-roots-and-was-part-of-ram-temple-movement/251541/).
ThePrint. Retrieved 25 June 2024. "He got married to Dr Amita Birla on 11 March 1991. The
couple has two daughters, Akansha and Anjali."
12. Roytalukdar, Rakhee. "Lok Sabha elections 2024: Speaker Om Birla to contest against former
BJP colleague for Kota seat" (https://www.deccanherald.com/elections/india/lok-sabha-election
s-2024-speaker-om-birla-to-contest-against-former-bjp-colleague-for-kota-seat-2968637).
Deccan Herald. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
13. "Om Birla elected Lok Sabha Speaker with voice vote; 'allow us to speak,' says Opposition" (htt
ps://web.archive.org/web/20240626080127/https://indianexpress.com/article/india/om-birla-ele
ction-lok-sabha-speaker-modi-opposition-9415980/). Indian Express. 26 June 2024. Archived
from the original (https://indianexpress.com/article/india/om-birla-election-lok-sabha-speaker-m
odi-opposition-9415980/) on 26 June 2024.
14. "Om Birla Unanimously Elected 17th Lok Sabha Speaker" (https://thewire.in/government/om-bi
rla-lok-sabha-speaker-narendra-modi-bjp). The Wire. 19 June 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
15. "Convention of electing the Deputy Speaker from the Opposition should be upheld" (https://ww
w.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/the-second-chair-the-hindu-editorial-on-lok-sabha-deputy-spe
aker/article32594798.ece). The Hindu. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
16. "BJYM : Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha : भाजयुमो : भारतीय जनता युवा मोर्चा | BJYM : Bharatiya
Janata Yuva Morcha is youth wing of Bharatiya Janata Party one of the leading Political Party
in India, भाजयुमो : भारतीय जनता युवा मोर्चा" (http://www.bjym.org/). www.bjym.org. Retrieved
29 August 2015.
17. "Parliament suspensions: LS count touches 100, only 90 INDIA bloc MPs left in Parliament" (htt
ps://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/highest-suspensions-93-india-bloc-mp-parliament-
9076251/). The Indian Express. 20 December 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
18. Nihalani, Jasmin (21 December 2023). "Record breaking suspension of 146 MPs: Which
States and parties affected most | Data" (https://www.thehindu.com/data/record-breaking-susp
ension-of-143-mps-which-states-and-parties-affected-most-data/article67661005.ece). The
Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0971-751X). Retrieved 27 June 2024.
19. "How 17th Lok Sabha performed: One-third of Bills passed under an hour, record suspensions,
lengthy interruptions" (https://indianexpress.com/article/political-pulse/lok-sabha-performed-bill
s-passed-suspensions-lengthy-interruptions-9164669/). The Indian Express. 16 February 2024.
Retrieved 27 June 2024.
20. "Om Birla's Unenviable Track Record as Speaker" (https://thewire.in/politics/om-birlas-unenvia
ble-track-record-as-speaker). thewire.in. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
21. Kapoor, Sanjay (28 June 2024). "Om Birla's Resolution to Condemn Emergency is a Shocking
Display of Partisanship" (https://www.thequint.com/opinion/parliament-lok-sabha-speaker-om-b
irla-resolution-to-condemn-emergency-is-a-shocking-display-of-partisanship). TheQuint.
Retrieved 29 June 2024.

External links
Official biographical sketch (http://loksabhaph.nic.in/Members/MemberBioprofile.aspx?mpsno=
4716) in Parliament of India website

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