Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi accused the ruling party of “not letting him speak” in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, while Home Minister Amit Shah responded by accusing the Congress leader of “not wanting to speak” and skipping Parliament in favour of travelling abroad, a face-off that defined the debate on the Opposition’s motion to remove Speaker Om Birla. The motion was roundly defeated in favour of the BJP after a 10-hour debate.Amid protests and sloganeering by the Congress-led Opposition, which demanded an apology from Shah, BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, who was presiding over the House, announced that the motion had been defeated.Earlier, Pal urged Opposition members to take their seats so that the motion could be put to vote. However, as protests continued, he proceeded with the voice vote, after which the resolution was rejected and the House was adjourned for the day.Shah criticised the Opposition for bringing a motion to remove the Speaker. The Opposition objected to certain remarks made by Shah, raising slogans and disrupting proceedings.Participating in the debate as the last speaker, Shah said the House would be run by its own rules and not by the rules of any political party.“It is not an ordinary occurrence. After nearly four decades, such a motion has been brought against the Speaker,” he said, adding that it was unfortunate for parliamentary politics that some Opposition parties were questioning the integrity of the Speaker.He said the BJP had spent the longest time in the Opposition, but had never moved such a motion against any Speaker.“According to the established traditions of this House, its proceedings are conducted on the basis of mutual trust. The Speaker acts as a neutral custodian representing both the ruling party and the Opposition,” he said.The Home Minister also said questioning Birla’s integrity amounted to questioning the country’s democratic processes.Birla was not present in the House during the debate.The discussion also saw sharp exchanges involving Rahul.He intervened during BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad’s speech after the latter criticised him while referring to parliamentary procedures and cautioning the LoP against making remarks on issues of national security.Responding, Rahul said the House did not belong to any single party.“Whenever we get up to speak, we are stopped. The Lok Sabha does not belong to one party but to the entire country,” he said.He added that it was unprecedented for a Leader of the Opposition to be prevented from speaking in the House and said he had been interrupted while attempting to refer to former Army Chief Manoj Mukund Naravane and financier Jeffrey Epstein. Rahul also accused the Speaker’s office of restricting Opposition voices.“The discussion here is about the democratic process and the role of the Speaker. Multiple times my name has been raised and wild things have been said about me. This House represents the people of India, not one party,” he said.Prasad, meanwhile, said the motion should not be “weaponised to satisfy the ego of a leader” and described it as a painful moment for Parliament.BJP MP Anurag Thakur also criticised the Opposition, saying it could bring up any issue in Parliament if it wanted to “make itself a laughing stock”.Taking a swipe at the Congress, Thakur said the party that had “debilitated” the poll body by appointing “changu-mangu (lackeys)” as election commissioners during its rule was now seeking a discussion on removing Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.Earlier, senior Congress MP KC Venugopal alleged that the Speaker’s hands were tied by the government and that he was forced to act in line with the wishes of the ruling party.He criticised Birla for claiming he had “concrete information” that some Congress women MPs were planning to stage an “unexpected act” near the seat where Prime Minister Narendra Modi sits in the House.Venugopal termed the remarks “very defamatory” and alleged they were meant to justify Modi’s absence during last month’s debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President.His comments drew a sharp response from Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, who said the Speaker was not present to defend himself and warned that if CCTV footage of Congress MPs protesting in Birla’s office was released, the whole world would be ashamed of their behaviour.