Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla joked in Parliament on Thursday as Leader of the Opposition in the House, Rahul Gandhi, briefly raised doubts over whether Congress MP KC Venugopal’s microphone was working.
During the special session of Parliament, Venugopal raised questions about the government’s intention behind the proposal of 33% reservation for women in the House and asked why the move would not be implemented in 2024. Follow live updates about today’s parliament session.
That’s when Union Home Minister Amit Shah took issue with how the merits of the bill were being questioned without bringing it up for discussion.
“No microphone,” says Rahul Gandhi.
When the Lok Sabha Speaker started explaining the House proceedings to Venugopal, someone in the Opposition first raised doubts about whether the MP’s microphone was on.
“Mic hi mute tha “(Mic is off),” one of the leaders said, and Rahul Gandhi also pointed to the microphone and said “No microphone.” That’s when the Speaker of the Lok Sabha said sarcastically: “Chalu hai mic chalu hai, aapka hi band hota hai (Microphone is on, only your microphone is not working).”
Parliament Speaker Om Birla’s comment appears to refer to Rahul Gandhi’s earlier claims that microphones are turned off when opposition leaders speak in Parliament. During his 2023 visit to the UK, Gandhi claimed during a speech that the voice of the opposition was being stifled in Parliament, and said his microphone was turned off several times.
Also in 2024, a Congress leader claimed that Rahul Gandhi’s microphone was turned off in Parliament causing an uproar.
Border demarcation concerns, women’s quota in parliament
The three major bills introduced by the government to amend the Women Quota Act and establish a Delimitation Commission were introduced in the Lok Sabha amidst stiff opposition. The special session of Parliament had a rocky start with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and Union Home Minister Amit Shah exchanging barbs with Opposition leaders like Samajwadi MP Akhilesh Yadav and Congress MP KC Venugopal, among others.
The ‘Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-first Amendment) Bill, 2026’, ‘Delimitation Bill, 2026’ and ‘Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2026’ were introduced in the House.
Proposals to expand the strength of the Lok Sabha to as many as 850 have raised concerns about demarcation, especially among southern states like Tamil Nadu and Telangana who fear they will lose their power in the Lok Sabha.
