Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said that he hoped that actions like suspension of MPs would not be taken in the 18th Lok Sabha. Speaking shortly after NDA's Om Birla was re-elected as the Lok Sabha speaker, Mr Yadav said he believed that the BJP MP would be impartial towards the opposition and give its leaders equal opportunity.
"I congratulate you and extend you best wishes on behalf of all my colleagues. The post that you are occupying has glorious traditions attached to it. We believe that this will continue without any discrimination and as Lok Sabha Speaker you will give equal opportunities and respect to every member and party," he said.
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"Impartiality is a great responsibility of this great position... We expect that no public representative's voice will be stifled, nor will an action like expulsion take place again," he said.
Mr Yadav was apparently referring to the unprecedented suspension of more than 100 MPs during the Winter Session of Parliament last year.
"Your control is on the Opposition but it should be on the ruling side too. The House should function on your signals and not the other way round," he said.
"I hope that you would respect the Opposition as much as you respect the ruling dispensation and let them present their side," Mr Yadav said.
Rahul Gandhi's Similar Appeal To Lok Sabha Speaker
Speaking before Akhilesh Yadav, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also made a similar appeal to Om Birla and said that "it is very important that the voice of the Opposition is allowed to be represented in this House".
"I am confident that you will allow us to speak. The question is not how efficiently the House is run. The question is how much of India's voice is being allowed to be heard. So the idea that you can run the House efficiently by silencing the voice of the Opposition is a non-democratic idea. And this election has shown that the people of India expect the Opposition to defend the Constitution," Mr Gandhi said.
"We are confident that by allowing the Opposition to speak, you will do your duty of defending the Constitution," Mr Gandhi, who is also named as the leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, said.
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Mr Birla, a three-time BJP MP from Rajasthan's Kota, was elected Lok Sabha Speaker for the second consecutive time on Wednesday after he won the election by a voice vote.
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