Lok Sabha Speaker election: What went wrong in Rajnath Singh, KC Venugopal meeting?

The Congress-led Opposition on Tuesday went against parliamentary conventions as it fielded K Suresh as its candidate for the Lok Sabha Speaker election. Congress leader KC Venugopal and DMK's TR Baalu met BJP leader and union minister Rajnath Singh minutes before announcing their decision. What transpired during the meeting?

According to union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, the consensus talk broke down after the two leaders put a pre-condition before Rajnath Singh for supporting the National Democratic Alliance's candidate, Om Birla.

Rajiv Ranjan Singh claimed Venugopal and TR Baalu had said they would support the NDA candidate only if the government gave the Deputy Speaker post to the Opposition.

"To talk about the Speaker's position, KC Venugopal and TR Baalu had come. They spoke to the defence minister. The defence minister informed about the Lok Sabha Speaker candidate from the NDA side and asked for support. Venugopal said that the name of the Deputy Speaker should be accepted... The defence minister said that when that election comes, we will sit together and discuss... They were adamant on their condition," he claimed.

Also read: Om Birla, K Suresh file nominations for first Lok Sabha Speaker election ever

Rajiv Ranjan Singh accused the Opposition of practising politics based on conditions and pressure.

"This does not work in a democracy," he added.

Union minister and BJP MP Piyush Goyal said KC Venugopal and TR Baalu wanted to dictate terms.

"In the morning, Rajnath Singh wanted to discuss with Mallikarjun Kharge. He was busy so he said that KC Venugopal would talk to you. But after speaking with TR Baalu and KC Venugopal, the old mentality that ‘We will dictate the terms’ was shown again. Their condition was that they first decide who will be the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha and then support will be given for the Speaker," he said.

Follow live updates

"A good tradition would have been to choose the Speaker unanimously. The Speaker does not belong to any party or Opposition; he belongs to the entire House. Similarly, the Deputy Speaker also does not belong to any party or group; he belongs to the entire House and hence there should be consent of the House. Such conditions that only a particular person from a particular party should be the Deputy Speaker, do not fit into any tradition of the Lok Sabha," he added.

Meanwhile, the INDIA bloc's nominee, K Suresh said the Congress waited till 11.50 am, 10 minutes before the deadline, for the government's response.

"I have filed my nomination. It is the party's decision, not mine. There is a convention in Lok Sabha that the Speaker will be from the ruling party and the Deputy Speaker will be from the opposition... Deputy Speaker is our right. But they are not ready to give it to us. Till 11:50 am we were waiting for a response from the government, but they did not give any response. That is why we filed the nomination," he said.

With inputs from ANI, PTI