The 18th Lok Sabha is set to witness its first test – the election for post of Speaker. An energised opposition forced a contest in the Lok Sabha for picking up the Speaker after talks with the government failed to yield consensus. After two months of intense election campaign, the new battleground will be the lower house.
As THE WEEK had reported last week, the government nominated Om Birla for the post of Speaker signalling continuity. Birla is trusted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for running the house when Opposition is likely to use every opportunity to put the government on the mat. Birla will face Congress’s K. Suresh on Wednesday when, after the voting, the winner will be picked up. The NDA has an edge as the JD(U) and the TDP are on its side. The NDA has 293 MPs in the 543-member house, while the INDIA alliance has 233 MPs (Wayanad has fallen vacant after Rahul Gandhi retained Rae Bareli). The NDA is trying to enlist support of other non-aligned MPs, too.
The INDIA alliance leaders said they had asked the government to allot the Deputy Speaker post to their parties as it was the convention followed even during the UPA regime after which they would be ready to support the government nominee for the post of Speaker. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had held talks. The opposition claimed that the government was non-committal on the promise of deputy speaker and said they would take decision in due course.
Suresh, the senior most member in the house, will face the test. Despite speculation around his name for the Pro-term Speaker, THE WEEK had reported that government was unlikely to do so and instead install Bhartuhari Mahtab or Radha Mohan in the post. The government picked up Mahtab, while Mohan and Suresh were made part of the panel for Pro-term Speaker. Now, Mahtab will conduct the proceedings of the House when election of Speaker is held.
The Lok Sabha is set to witness a fiery start as Speaker elections are being held for the first time in decades. Birla had a frosty relations with the Opposition as they alleged that he did not give them adequate time and even suspended many of them for protesting.
With numbers stacked in his favour, Birla is most likely to become the Speaker. The Speaker is elected with the simple majority test.
After Birla’s election, the government may consider appointing Deputy Speaker from one its allies.
If Birla gets elected on Wednesday, he will be the second person to hold the post in two consecutive terms in over three decades. Congress’ Balram Jhakhar was the longest serving Lok Sabha speaker with two terms lasting nearly 10 years in office till 1989. The Speakers who retained their posts in subsequent Lok Sabhas were M.A. Ayyangar, G.S. Dhillon, and G.M.C. Balayogi, but with lesser tenure than Jhakhar.
What may also tip the scales in Birla’s favour was the fact that he belonged to the Hindi heartland state, Rajasthan, the party’s core vote-bank region. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will propose the name of Lok Sabha speaker on June 26, which will be seconded by the NDA allies.
The Speaker will be important for the BJP as it had to rely on allies to get majority. The Modi government would like to begin its third term with a message that it still wields control despite the BJP falling short of majority. As the new parliament is set to witness a stronger opposition, the BJP would like to retain the upper hand with its own Speaker.