The BRICS Parliamentary Forum will meet in Delhi on October 26-27

New Delhi: Speaker of the Lok Sabha Om Birla addressing a press conference regarding preparations to host the ’12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum’ in New Delhi, Thursday, October 22, 2026. | Photo credit: PTI

A two-day conference of the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum will be held in New Delhi on October 26 and 27 with discussions focusing on “parliamentary support for people-centred development”, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said at a press conference on Thursday (22 October 2026).

“The two-day conference will include both bilateral and multilateral discussions. Speakers, members of parliament and other dignitaries from BRICS and partner countries will debate strategic priorities for parliaments,” he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also attend the event, though the opposition leaders of both houses have not received any separate invitation.

The talks will cover “institutional resilience, ethical artificial intelligence, digital transformation, global governance reform and sustainable development”. India received confirmation from most of the participating countries, although Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia expressed their inability to participate.

Meanwhile, the Speaker dodged all questions regarding the postponement of the adjournment of the Monsoon Session of Parliament and speculations about a special session to discuss the delimitation legislation.

“Article 85 of the Constitution clearly says that the Speaker has no role in convening or adjourning the meeting. If I had any role, then I would pass judgement,” he said, adding that the decision rests with the government.

Disqualification of rebel MPs

On the disqualification of the 20 MLAs who had split from the original Trinamool Congress (TMC), Mr Birla said he would speed up the process once the legislators submitted their replies. “Just as the Supreme Court is hearing the case, my court is also hearing the case, I cannot pass judgment here,” he said. On 23 September, the Supreme Court said it expected the Speaker of the Lok Sabha to take an “expedited” decision on the challenge to disqualify them.

After the West Bengal Assembly elections, 20 TMC MPs announced that they had joined the little-known Nationalist Civic Party of India (NCPI) and sought separate recognition in the House. This was disputed by the TMC, which argued that the MPs were elected on its symbol and that their decision to join another political formation amounted to voluntarily giving up their membership of the party, which warranted disqualification under the Anti-Defection Act.

Published – 22 Oct 2026 20:42 IST