Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla calls dissent a strength of democracy

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said dissent should be welcomed as a source of fresh perspectives, as he addressed lawmakers of Haryana at Panchkula.

He was speaking at the inaugural session of the "Janpratinidhi Sammelan" organised by the Haryana Vidhan Sabha under the Samvidhan Pakhwada programme, before serving and former members and former ministers.

Birla said agreement and disagreement are "two sides of the same coin" in a democracy. Dissent, he said, helps address administrative blind spots and promote better governance, and whatever their party or ideology, public representatives must keep the progress of the state and nation first.

On Haryana and the Constitution

Reflecting on six decades of the state, he praised its farmers for adopting modern agricultural technology, its youth in the armed forces and its sportspersons. He noted that the Constituent Assembly, guided by B.R. Ambedkar and including leaders from Haryana and Punjab, built a parliamentary democracy amid great diversity. "Our Constitution is not merely a framework for running the government; it is the soul of India," he said.

Service after office

Birla said public service does not end with a legislator's tenure and urged lawmakers to treat governance as an instrument of grassroots empowerment. The measure of public life, he said, is the happiness of "the last person in the queue".

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda attended.

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Source: official release by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, issued through the Press Information Bureau, Government of India (02 NOV 2026 3:20PM by PIB Delhi). Read the full official text: LOK SABHA SPEAKER CALLS UPON LAWMAKERS TO UPHOLD DISSENT AS A STRENGTH OF DEMOCRACY.