The government and Opposition are locked in a faceoff after the ruling NDA decided to renominate BJP MP Om Birla for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker while not deciding on the post of Deputy Speaker. The Opposition responded by fielding Congress MP from Kerala Kodikunnil Suresh for the post of Speaker, setting the stage for a rare contest for the high office, first time after independence.
Sources in the government said it will reach out to the Opposition on the issue of Deputy Speaker, while emphasising that the Congress cannot “dictate” terms by saying that it will support the NDA’s Speaker candidate only if the Deputy Speaker post is given to the Opposition.
Setting such conditions, senior government ministers said, was unacceptable. But, the opposition failed to trust the ruling party as in the last Lok Sabha it did not hold an election for Deputy Speaker at all to avoid opposition candidates getting a chance.
Birla, who was Speaker in the 17th Lok Sabha, filed the nomination papers after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in the presence of senior ministers and NDA leaders. Minutes later, three sets of nominations were filed for Suresh.
Birla was accompanied by Union Ministers Amit Shah, J P Nadda, Kiren Rijiju and all NDA allies to the office of Lok Sabha secretary general for the nominations. Birla is a third-term Lok Sabha MP from Kota in Rajasthan.
With Congress Party’s K Suresh, an eight-term Kerala MP, filing his nominations for the Lok Sabha Speaker election earlier, there will be a contest for the post for the first time since independence.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, tasked to engage the opposition, said he spoke to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge thrice since last night. Earlier, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said the opposition would back the Speaker nominee of the government if given the Deputy Speaker post.
After it became clear that Om Birla could be retained as Lok Sabha Speaker, Shiv Sena UBT leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said the decision of suspending over 130 MPs in the Lok Sabha, first time ever in history, disqualified Mahua Moitra on the basis of a committee that tilted towards the BJP, took a decision on allotting Shiv Sena parliamentary party office to Shinde Sena thereby legitimising the traitors without taking into account the SC case.
She warned that if TDP and JDU support this decision then they very well be prepared for BJP trying to split their parties as well besides of course legitimizing unconstitutionality.