On June 19, Om Birla completed three years as Lok Sabha Speaker. Downplaying the controversies over passages of several bills, he describes his tenure as successful, asserting that he has always strived for consensus between House members through dialogue, in keeping with parliamentary traditions. In an exclusive interview with Outlook’s Ashutosh Sharma, Birla expressed concern over falling standards of parliamentary debate. He, however, parried queries on who he feels are the few parliamentarians who represent the great Indian parliamentary debate tradition today.

"Everyone has a right to create controversy in a parliamentary democracy. Which bill will be presented as a money bill, it is the sole prerogative of the Lok Sabha Speaker, and the Supreme Court has upheld it. The Speaker is also tied to the Constitution. He can’t violate the Constitution."