The 18th Lok Sabha is all set to witness a rare contest for the Speaker post on Wednesday between the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Om Birla and Kodikunnil Suresh of the Congress after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and the INDIA group of Opposition parties failed to arrive at a consensus.
On Tuesday, Congress leader K.C. Venugopal and DMK’s T.R. Baalu from the Opposition and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and Health Minister J.P. Nadda had met at Mr. Singh’s office in Parliament to evolve a consensus.
Also read:Lok Sabha Speaker election updates
However, with both sides sticking to their position, the two Opposition leaders walked out, with Mr. Venugopal accusing the government of not following the “convention” of an Opposition candidate for the Deputy Speaker’s position.
The decision to field Mr. Birla, a third term BJP MP from Kota in Rajasthan, underlined the BJP-led NDA’s theme continuity as he was the Speaker of the previous Lok Sabha.
INDIA bloc’s nominee, Mr. Suresh, is an eight-term MP from Kerala and belongs to the Dalit community.
Three instances
In independent India, there are only three instances — in 1952, 1967 and 1976 — when there was a voting for the Speaker’s post.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said the Opposition was willing to support the NDA candidate but the government was non-committal on giving the Deputy Speaker post to the Opposition.
Union Ministers Piyush Goyal of the BJP and Lalan Singh of the Janata Dal (United) accused the Opposition of resorting to “pressure politics” by putting precondition.
In case an election takes place, the numbers clerarly favour the government, with the NDA’s 293 MPs against the INDIA bloc’s 233. At least three independent members also support the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, which currently has 542 members after Mr. Gandhi resigned from one of the two seats he had won. The NDA, that is seeking to hit the 300-mark, is likely to get the support of four YSR Congress Party members in the Lower House.
The decision to field Mr. Suresh had also exposed the fault lines within the INDIA bloc as Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Abhishek Banerjee had accused the Congress of taking a unilateral decision without consulting them. Almost immediately, the Congress’ top leadership reached out to the TMC and managed to secure their backing for the Opposition candidate.
While Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju appealed to the Opposition to elect Mr. Birla unanimously, Mr. Venugopal said it was willing to withdraw Mr. Suresh’s candidacy if the government was willing to follow the convention of giving the Deputy Speaker’s position to the Opposition.
Whips issued
Both the NDA and the INDIA bloc were locked in a series of meetings to formulate strategy ahead of Wednesday’s proposed election. Both sides have also issued three-line whips, asking their members to be present in the House.
“It is not about winning or losing, but about a convention that the Speaker will be of ruling party and the Deputy Speaker from the Opposition,” Mr. Suresh told The Hindu, adding, “Now we are recognised as the Opposition and the Deputy Speaker post is our right”.
Countering the Opposition, Mr. Rijiju said that having a consensus choice for the Speaker post has long been part of India’s parliamentary tradition. “I appeal again that they should think about keeping in mind the dignity of the post of Speaker. We have the numbers but still, we are requesting that there should be no election for the post of Speaker because this post does not belong to any party,” the Parliamentary Affairs Minister said.
Briefing reporters in Parliament earlier in the day, Mr. Gandhi said Mr. Rajnath Singh had called Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to seek support for the Speaker post.
“The entire Opposition has said that they will support the government on the Speaker post, but the convention is that the post of Deputy speaker is given to the Opposition. Rajnath Singh ji last evening said he will return the call but he didn’t do so until now. Modi ji talks of constructive cooperation but then insults our leader...But Narendra Modi ji says something and does something else,” Mr. Gandhi said.
Published - June 25, 2024 12:07 pm IST
