New Delhi

Lok Sabha secretariat sources on Monday said Speaker Om Birla had “genuine and well-founded concerns” over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s safety and the maintenance of order in the House last week, rejecting opposition claims that there was no imminent threat.

Citing the sequence of events in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the sources said Birla’s advice to the prime minister not to enter the chamber at that juncture was guided solely by the need to ensure smooth parliamentary functioning and to protect the dignity and sanctity of the institution.

The clarification came hours after Congress women MPs wrote to the Speaker alleging that, under pressure from the ruling party, he made “grave allegations” against them to justify Modi’s non-appearance in the House. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and several opposition leaders also met Birla later in the day to raise concerns they wanted to flag in the House.

Proceedings in the Lok Sabha were adjourned amid a standoff between the government and the opposition over Gandhi’s demand that he be allowed to speak before the discussion on the Union Budget.

The House has witnessed repeated disruptions since February 2, when Gandhi was disallowed from citing a report referring to an unpublished memoir of former Army chief M M Naravane on the 2020 India-China conflict. The issue escalated into daily ruckus, culminating in the suspension of seven Congress MPs and one CPI(M) MP for the remainder of the session.

In an unprecedented development, the prime minister did not speak on the Motion of Thanks after the Speaker urged him not to come to the House, citing concerns over possible unpleasant incidents.

Responding to opposition allegations that Birla acted at the behest of the BJP, the sources said such claims were “devoid of facts”. They asserted that the Speaker’s decision must be viewed in the context of the “grave and unprecedented disorder” that unfolded in the House.

According to the sources, the atmosphere deteriorated sharply from the very start of proceedings, raising serious concerns regarding safety, decorum and the dignity of parliamentary functioning. Opposition MPs entered the Well of the House in defiance of established norms, with some members climbing on tables, tearing official papers and hurling them towards the Chair.

“These acts constituted a complete breakdown of discipline and one of the most unfortunate episodes witnessed in the Lok Sabha,” the sources said, adding that the incident drew widespread attention and concern in India and abroad.

Amid the chaos, several women MPs moved aggressively towards the prime minister’s seat, forming a virtual cordon around it, the sources claimed. Some of them crossed over to the treasury benches carrying banners and placards and advanced deep into areas where senior ministers were seated, further heightening disorder and insecurity in the chamber.

The sources also alleged that when opposition MPs later met the Speaker in his office, “unparliamentary language” was used.

Birla had referred to these developments in the House on Thursday while explaining the circumstances under which he advised the prime minister not to attend the Lok Sabha the previous day.

READ MORE: Why reviving Ganga-Jamuni culture is the need of the hour

The sources stressed that maintaining order, decorum and propriety of the House is the Speaker’s foremost constitutional responsibility, and his actions were firmly rooted in that obligation.