Breaking Tradition: BJP And Congress Clash Over Speaker's Election Amid Deputy Speaker Dispute | 10 Points

A decades-old convention was broken by BJP MP Om Birla and Congress lawmaker K Suresh on Tuesday as nominations were filed for the Speaker's election after the Opposition's demand for the Deputy Speaker's post was not conceded.

The Congress, encouraged by the Lok Sabha election results, placed the condition before the BJP for supporting the NDA candidate that the Deputy Speaker post should be given to the Opposition. However, it was decided by the BJP that the Opposition's "pressure" politics would not be yielded to, leading to a rare election.

The absence of consensus on the initial issue faced by the 18th Lok Sabha indicates the Opposition's intent to signal to the government that it would resist being marginalized on significant matters.

10 Points on the Speaker's Election:

1. On Monday, Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, and JP Nadda met with KC Venugopal and DMK's TR Baalu at the Defence Minister's office in Parliament. However, after finding that the government did not want to follow the convention of supporting an Opposition candidate for the Deputy Speaker's position, the INDIA bloc leaders walked out and later announced K Suresh's candidacy for the Speaker's chair, breaking the convention, as reported by ANI.

2. The Opposition was accused by Union ministers Piyush Goyal of the BJP and Lalan Singh of the JD(U) of engaging in pressure politics and setting conditions despite senior ministers' assurances that their demands would be considered. "Pressure politics cannot be tolerated," reporters were told by Lalan Singh.

3. It is likely that Om Birla will win the election due to the National Democratic Alliance having 293 members in the Lower House of Parliament. The INDIA bloc has 233 members, having initially won 234 seats before Rahul Gandhi relinquished the Wayanad seat. PTI reported that three independent members of the Lok Sabha are likely to support the Opposition.

4. According to PTI, BJP sources indicated that the Congress had been the main instigator on the issue, with some other INDIA bloc members showing less enthusiasm for a contest. Meanwhile, the YSRCP may support the NDA candidate.

5. Disappointment was expressed by the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress over the Congress's decision to nominate K Suresh for the Lok Sabha Speaker post, citing a lack of consultation. TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee stated that the decision on K Suresh's candidacy was unilateral. "We were not contacted about this, and there was no discussion, as reported by PTI. Unfortunately, this is a unilateral decision," he remarked. The TMC's stance on the election will be clarified today.

6. A meeting of the INDIA bloc's floor leaders was held at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in Delhi to strategize for the election. Congress MPs Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, president of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, Hanuman Beniwal, along with two TMC leaders Banerjee and Derek O'Brien-and other INDIA bloc leaders attended the meeting.

7. K Suresh, the INDIA bloc candidate, is the longest-serving Lok Sabha MP, having served for 29 years. He is the working president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and served as the chief whip of the Congress Parliamentary Party in the 17th Lok Sabha.

8. If elected, Birla, the BJP MP from Kota, will become the fifth Speaker to serve beyond the tenure of one Lok Sabha. Congress leader Balram Jakhar is the only presiding officer to have served two complete terms spanning the seventh and eighth Lok Sabha. Birla, a third-term MP, is also a three-term former Rajasthan MLA and has risen through the BJP ranks.

9. K Suresh stated that the government did not respond to the Opposition's request until 11:50. "For the last two Lok Sabhas, we were denied the Deputy Speaker's post because they said we were not recognized as the Opposition. Now we are recognized as the Opposition, and the Deputy Speaker post is our right. However, they are not willing to give it to us. We waited for a reply from the government's side until 11:50, but no reply was given," he told reporters.

10. Traditionally, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha have been elected by consensus between the ruling party and the Opposition. However, elections for the Speaker's post have occurred at least twice in India's parliamentary history. The first instance was in 1952 when Congress' GV Malvankar contested against CPI's candidate Shankar Shantaram More. The second was in 1976 when Congress' BR Bhagat contested against Jagannathrao Joshi from Jan Sangh, supported by Congress O, as per media reports.