Om Birla files nomination for LS Speaker post as NDA candidate; Oppn fields K Suresh

New Delhi: As an NDA consensus candidate, BJP MP Om Birla submitted his nomination on Tuesday for the role of Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha, which he held in the previous House. Om Birla met Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier today before submitting paperwork. 

All of the NDA parties agreed on Birla's name, and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh also asked the opposition for support, according to JD(U) leader and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, also known as Lalan Singh, who spoke to media here, Livemint reported.

Although Rajnath Singh had asked that everyone get together and discuss the matter when it came time for selection, Singh claimed that the opposition wanted a decision on the deputy speaker position made together with the speaker nominee. 

A member of his cabinet, Piyush Goyal, blasted the opposition for imposing restrictions and stated that a consensus candidate would have been preferable. He claimed conditions could not govern democracy.

As their nominee for speaker, the opposition INDIA group has fielded Congress leader K Suresh.  An election for the lower house speaker will be held for the first time.   Since independence, the opposition and ruling parties have worked together to elect the LS Speaker and Deputy Speaker. On June 26, elections will take place to fill the position.

Rajnath Singh, a senior cabinet minister, had already reached out to opposition figures on behalf of the government, hoping to reach agreement over the speaker and deputy speaker positions in the Lower House of Parliament. 

Rahul Gandhi added that they had told Rajnath Singh that while the opposition is prepared to back the NDA's candidate for Speaker, they believe that the opposition ought to be awarded the position of Deputy Speaker.

“We have said to Rajnath Singh that we will support their candidate for Speaker but the convention is that the post of Deputy Speaker be given to the opposition,” he told media persons earlier today. 

On June 26, a new Lok Sabha Speaker will be elected. President Murmu is expected to address a joint session of both chambers of Parliament on June 27. In the 543-member Lok Sabha, the opposition INDIA group has 234 MPs,  much stronger than the erstwhile UPA membership in the previous Lok Sabha, while the NDA has a commanding majority of 293 MPs.