'Aapka Hi Mic Band Hota Hai': Om Birla Takes Jibe At Rahul Gandhi As LoP Questions Glitch During Venugopal’s Speech - VIDEO

New Delhi: Amid the opposition vs treasury benches face-off over the debate on the Women’s Reservation Bill on Thursday, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla joked in the House when Rahul Gandhi briefly raised doubts about whether Congress MP KC Venugopal’s microphone was working during a discussion linked to the proposal.

"Chalu hai, mic chalu hai, aapka hi band hota hai inka band nahi hota," the Speaker said, which roughly translates to, "It is working, the mic is working, it is only yours that gets switched off, not his."

KC Venugopal was raising concerns regarding the government’s approach to introducing multiple Bills together, questioning the intent behind bringing the legislation in its present form and asking why the proposal had not been implemented earlier. The video of the exchange has gone viral on social media.

Birla’s remark appeared to refer to Gandhi’s earlier allegations that microphones are switched off when Opposition leaders speak in Parliament.

18 Hours of Debate

Speaker Om Birla informed the House that discussions on the three Bills would continue for 15 to 18 hours, with voting scheduled for 4 pm on Friday.

Earlier in the day, three Bills related to women’s reservation and Delimitation were introduced in the Lok Sabha.

PM Modi to Address Lok Sabha

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address the Lok Sabha at 3 pm on Thursday. Other party speakers are expected to include Bansuri Swaraj, Raksha Khadse, Aparajita Sarangi, Kangana Ranaut, and Dharmshila Gupta.

The government is planning to implement the women's reservation ahead of the 2029 General Elections by bringing in an amendment to operationalise the 2023 Act and a constitutional amendment to delink the delimitation process from the 2027 census. The proposed delimitation bill's implementation is tied to a population-based revision of constituencies based on the 2011 census, according to news agency ANI.

Opposition To Vote Against The Bill

The INDIA bloc and other opposition parties that are expected to vote against the bill comprise Congress (with 98 MPs), Samajwadi Party (37), Trinamool Congress (28), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (22), Shiv Sena (UBT) (9), NCP (SP) (8), and others such as Rashtriya Janata Dal with two MPs, Communist Party of India (Marxist) (4), Aam Aadmi Party (3), Muslim League, and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha with three MPs each, CPI(ML)L and National Conference with two MPs each, along with smaller parties, including Azad Samaj Party-Kanshiram (1).