Displeased Om Birla skips LS proceedings: What happens when Speaker is absent?

In the Lok Sabha, both Presiding Officers — the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker — are elected from among its members by a simple majority of members present and voting. In the absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker discharges his functions. A member of the Panel of Chairpersons, which assists the Speaker in his functioning, presides over the House in the absence of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. On Wednesday, YSRCP leader Midhun Reddy and BJP’s Kirit Solanki filled in for Birla as the Lok Sabha does not have a Deputy Speaker.

A similar incident played out in March 2020 during the Budget Session as Birla skipped the House for two consecutive days, “hurt” over chaos in the House. On one of the days, MPs Bhartruhari Mahtab, Rama Devi, Rajendra Agarwal, and Meenakshi Lekhi filled in for the Sepaker as the House was disrupted continuously — first, over communal violence in Delhi and then over a remark by Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal. This eventually led to seven Congress MPs getting suspended.