Maneka Gandhi to be temporary speaker, Varun kept out of Modi cabinet

New Delhi, May 30: Senior BJP leader and eight-time MP Maneka Gandhi will be the pro-tem or interim Speaker of the Lok Sabha instead of minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new government. While her son, Varun Gandhi has been kept out new cabinet.

Gandhi, 62, a veteran BJP leader, had won from the Sultanpur seat in Uttar Pradesh. Gandhi is the outgoing Union Minister for Women and Child Development.

The main duty of the pro-tem Speaker is to administer the oath of office to new members of the Lok Sabha.

A temporary post, the Pro-tem Speaker presides over the first meeting of lower House of Parliament after the General election besides presiding over the sitting in which the Speaker and Deputy Speaker is elected if it is a newly constituted House.

Varun Gandhi, who shared a good rapport with Modi and Amit Shah has been skipped out of cabinet. He had not received a ministerial berth in 2014 either.