NEW DELHI: Senior Congress MP K Suresh has filed his nomination for the Lok Sabha Speaker post as the INDIA bloc’s candidate after leaders failed to reach a consensus. Om Birla, the Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha, remains the NDA’s choice.
For the first time in Indian history, elections will be held for the Speaker of the Lower House, a position usually decided by consensus between the ruling party and the opposition. The tensions are rising over the pro-tem Speaker selection, where Kodikunnil Suresh, the senior Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP stated that the INDIA bloc leaders will soon decide whether to withdraw from the panel assisting pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab.
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Suresh is part of the panel appointed by President Murmu to assist the pro-tem Speaker in administering the oath of affirmation to newly elected MPs. The opposition plans to boycott the panel to protest the government’s alleged violation of protocols by bypassing Suresh, an eight-term member, for the pro-tem Speaker position.
Earlier this week, President Murmu appointed Mahtab as the pro-tem Speaker until the new Lok Sabha Speaker is elected. She also nominated a panel of senior MPs, including Suresh, DMK MP T R Baalu, Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s Sudip Bandyopadhyay, and BJP leaders Radha Mohan Singh and Faggan Singh Kulaste, to assist Mahtab.
The Congress alleges the government overlooked Suresh in favour of Mahtab due to his Dalit background, despite the convention favouring the longest-serving parliamentarian. The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha begins Monday with oath-taking by newly elected members, followed by the election of the Lok Sabha Speaker on June 26 and President Murmu’s address to a joint sitting of both houses on June 27.
President Droupadi Murmu will address a joint session of both chambers of Parliament on June 27. The NDA has a comfortable majority (293 MPs) in the 543-member Lok Sabha, whereas the opposition INDIA alliance has 234 MPs.