Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday clarified that presiding officers of the House cannot turn off the microphones of the members as he “doesn’t have a switch or remote control.”
The speaker’s statements were in response to Congress MP and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s claim, for the second time in the new Parliament session, that his mic was switched off during the House proceedings.
Birla strongly objected to members casting doubts on the Chair with such an accusation, emphasising that it is a matter of the dignity of the Chair. “This is a matter of the dignity of the Chair. At least those who occupy the Chair should not raise such objections. (K) Suresh also occupies the Chair. Does the Chair have control of the mic,” the Speaker said, addressing the opposition.
Amid the dispute between the Speaker and Gandhi over the microphone issue, it’s crucial to understand who controls the mics in the parliament.
Who Controls Mics In Parliament?
According to a manual published by the Lok Sabha Secretariat in May 2014, each parliamentarian is provided with an individual microphone and a switch set at their specific desks.
The switchboard contains switches in different colours, with a grey switch used for requesting to speak. When a member wants to speak, they must raise their hand to indicate this to the Speaker while pressing the grey button, the manual states.
The mic is activated from the control room only when the member has been permitted by the Speaker to speak. This activation is indicated in two ways: with the LED ring turning red and the LED on top of the microphone also turning red.
What Is The Mic Controversy All About?
The controversy surrounding the parliament microphones arose after LoP Rahul Gandhi claimed that his mic was switched off as he tried to address the issue of NEET irregularities.
In response, Speaker Om Birla stated, “I don’t switch off the mic, there’s no button with me.”
Notably, this is not the first time that the Congress MP made such claims. During his Bharat Jodo Yatra from September 2022 to January 2023, Gandhi asserted several times that he was compelled to hit the streets as the government was “choking” the voice of the Opposition by not even letting elected members speak in Parliament.
In March 2023, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the then Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, wrote to Birla claiming that his microphone had been muted for three days.
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