New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Om Birla will compete against Congress’ Kodikunnil Suresh for the Lok Sabha Speaker’s post, following unsuccessful attempts to reach a consensus between the government and the opposition on Tuesday. Both Birla and Suresh have filed their nominations as candidates for the NDA and INDIA bloc, respectively.
Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Rajnath Singh reached out to opposition leaders to get their support for Om Birla, however, the Congress party demanded the deputy speaker's post for the opposition, citing convention and past practices. Notably, the previous Lok Sabha did not have a deputy speaker.
Union Ministers Rajiv Ranjan Singh and Piyush Goyal criticised the opposition for setting conditions, while Rajnath Singh suggested discussing the deputy speaker's election at a later time. However, the opposition called for an immediate appointment, which the NDA refused, the two leaders told reporters.
#WATCH | On INDIA bloc fielding K Suresh for Lok Sabha post, Union Minister and BJP MP Piyush Goyal says, “They said first decide the name for Deputy Speaker then we will support the Speaker candidate. We condemn such politics. A good tradition would have been to choose the… pic.twitter.com/ZDWS1aJsV3
— ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2024
Speaking to the media, BJP MP Piyush Goyal said, “In the morning, Rajnath Singh ji wanted to discuss with Mallikarjun Kharge ji but he was busy so he said that Venugopal ji would talk to you. But after speaking with TR Baalu and KC Venugopal ji, the old mentality that we will dictate the terms was shown again that the condition is that first decide who will be the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha and then support will be given for the Speaker, we condemn this type of politics.”
Earlier in the morning, Congress leader K C Venugopal and DMK's TR Baalu left Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's office after rejecting Om Birla’s endorsement without getting the deputy speaker's position. Venugopal stated that the BJP did not agree to offer the post to the opposition.
#WATCH | Delhi: Congress MP KC Venugopal says “We are still waiting, if they are ready to give the Deputy Speaker post, we are ready to elect the NDA’s candidate unanimously.Yesterday PM Modi told about consensus for the smooth functioning of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. We are… pic.twitter.com/PIIXIFBg0i
— ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2024
Notably, this would be the first time since independence that elections will be held for the Speaker of the lower house. Before this, Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker were chosen by consensus between the ruling party and the opposition. The elections are scheduled for June 26.
The NDA, with 293 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha, has a clear majority, while the opposition INDIA bloc holds 234 MPs.