Five days ago, Om Birla, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker, inspected the ongoing construction work in the Parliament complex. He urged officials from the Central Public Works Department to complete the work by July 3. Birla emphasized that he would not accept any excuses if the work was not finished on time.
Birla Set to Be Re-elected as Lok Sabha Speaker
On Tuesday, it became clear that Om Birla would be re-elected as the Lok Sabha Speaker. This is a significant event as Birla will be the first speaker in 39 years to be re-elected. He will be contesting against Kodikkunil Suresh, an experienced MP and Dalit leader from the Congress party. This marks only the fourth contest for the speaker’s post since 1952.
Om Birla, born in 1962, became the Lok Sabha Speaker in 2019 after serving as a two-term MP. Known for his unique approach to political communication, Birla has distributed blankets and slippers to the poor, demonstrating his commitment to helping those in need. He started initiatives like the Kambal-Nidhi program to provide blankets and quilts to the underprivileged.
During Birla’s tenure, the efficiency of the Lok Sabha improved significantly. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Parliament passed important legislation, including the women’s reservation bill and the abolition of Article 370.
Birla ensured that the Lower House often worked beyond midnight to complete its business, giving women and first-time MPs more opportunities to participate.
However, Birla’s tenure was not without criticism. Opposition leaders pointed out that 35% of the laws were passed with less than an hour of discussion, and only 16% of bills were reviewed by House panels. A significant number of MPs were suspended, and there were complaints about biased coverage by Sansad TV and the suppression of Opposition voices.
One of the most notable achievements of Birla’s tenure was the shift from the colonial-era Parliament building to a new one. His political career began in 1987 as the district president of the BJP’s youth wing in Kota. He served as a Rajasthan lawmaker until 2014 when he won his first Lok Sabha election from Kota-Bundi.
Birla was unanimously elected as the Speaker in 2019, and under his leadership, the Lok Sabha achieved a productivity rate of 97%, the highest in 25 years.
The fourth session of the 17th Lok Sabha had a productivity rate of 167%, the highest in the history of the Lok Sabha. Financial discipline saved ₹801 crore, and 222 bills became law, the highest in the last three Lok Sabhas.
Birla’s tenure saw increased participation in the law-making process, with 2,910 members involved. The Parliament Library was opened to the public, and rare parliamentary footage was made available online.
Birla also ensured that first-time members had opportunities to speak and raised a record number of issues during Zero Hour.
To improve the quality of debates, Birla provided MPs with clippings of their speeches for social media and started briefing sessions on bills and policies. He held numerous meetings with panchayat leaders, pushed for reforms to align Lok Sabha and state assembly rules, and helped digitize parliamentary discussions from 1854 to 2024.
Under Birla’s leadership, key bills such as the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Bill, the Citizenship Amendment Bill, and the Muslim Women’s Marriage Rights Protection Bill were passed. The Lok Sabha also approved the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill and the long-pending women’s reservation bill during its first session in the new building.
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