Rahul Gandhi’s Mic Off: Rahul Demands Mic On, Speaker Claims No Control – Who Really Has the Power to Mute MPs in Parliament?

Om Birla said, “I don’t turn off the mic, there is no button here.” The question is, who controls the mics in the Lok Sabha? Rahul Gandhi’s Mic Off incident raises doubts!

New Delhi: On Friday, there was a major uproar in both houses of Parliament over the issue of the NEET-UG exam question paper leak. During the discussion on this issue in the Lok Sabha, the mic of opposition leader Rahul Gandhi went off. Raising this issue, he asked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to turn on his mic. To this, Birla said, “I don’t turn off the mic, there is no button here.” The question then arises, who controls the mics in the Lok Sabha? Rahul Gandhi’s Mic Off incident sparks questions!

Each member of Parliament has a mic on their table in both houses, allowing them to communicate their points during parliamentary sessions to the Speaker and other members. In the Lok Sabha, the mic of the member who is speaking is turned on. As soon as they finish, their mic is turned off.

No Switch with the Speaker

In both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the Speaker or Chairman does not have a switch to turn the mics on or off. This was the point made by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to Rahul Gandhi. The question then is, what is the protocol if someone’s mic needs to be turned off during a debate? The Speaker does not directly order the mic to be turned off; these instructions are given through signals.

In reality, the switches for the microphones of the members of Parliament in the Lok Sabha are with the sound engineers seated on both sides of the Speaker’s chair. They have control over the mic of every MP and their respective numbers. For instance, during the Zero Hour, every MP is given three minutes to speak. As soon as this period is over, the sound engineer turns off their mic. Similarly, when an instruction comes from the Speaker’s chair, the sound engineer follows it. As soon as the Speaker says that something will not go on record, the mic is turned off. The mic of a member speaking out of turn during a discussion is also turned off.

Congress Accuses of Mic Being Turned Off

As soon as the Lok Sabha proceedings began on Friday, the issue of irregularities in the NEET-UG exam was raised. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked for time to discuss the NEET paper leak in the Lok Sabha, while Speaker Om Birla wanted to hold the discussion on the NEET paper leak issue after the discussion on the President’s address. This led to a huge uproar in Parliament. Congress has alleged that Rahul Gandhi’s mic was turned off in the Lok Sabha when he demanded a discussion on the NEET paper leak.

As soon as the proceedings began in the Lok Sabha, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi demanded that his mic be turned on. To this, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that he does not have the mic switch. Speaker Om Birla told Rahul Gandhi, “You are the Leader of the Opposition in the House, you will follow parliamentary decorum.” Rahul Gandhi responded, “The NEET issue is a serious matter.” Other opposition MPs then pointed out that Rahul’s mic was off.

Birla said, “I have said before that I don’t have any button to turn off the mic.” Rahul Gandhi then requested, “Please turn on my mic.” The Speaker replied, “Whatever you say right now will not go on record.”

Uproar over the Demand for Discussion on the NEET Issue Following this, opposition MPs started an uproar demanding a discussion on the NEET issue. Finally, the proceedings of the House were adjourned until 12 PM.

The issue of Rahul Gandhi’s Mic Off in the Lok Sabha was also raised by Congress on social media. Congress shared a video on Twitter. The party wrote, “While Narendra Modi is silent on NEET, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi is raising the voice of the youth in the House. But…by turning off the mic on such a serious issue, there is a conspiracy to suppress the voice of the youth.”

Kharge’s Mic Turned Off Too

Congress also complained that Mallikarjun Kharge’s mic was turned off in the Rajya Sabha. The party said on Twitter, “The voice of the students suffering from paper leaks in the country was raised by Congress President and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, but his ‘mic was turned off’.”