Lok Sabha speaker election today: Live updates: For the first time in Lok Sabha history, an election will be held on Wednesday to choose the Speaker. The BJP-led NDA government and the Congress-led opposition failed to agree on a candidate through consensus.
Traditionally, the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha were elected based on consensus between the ruling party and the opposition.
In this election, Om Birla of the BJP, a three-time MP from Kota, Rajasthan, will compete against Kodikunnil Suresh of the Congress, who has served eight terms representing Kerala’s Mavelikara constituency. Suresh holds the distinction of being the longest-serving parliamentarian in the 18th Lok Sabha.
Following this election, President Murmu will address a joint session of both houses of Parliament on June 27.
The disagreement arose when the NDA rejected the demand from the Opposition INDIA bloc to have the Deputy Speaker’s position in exchange for their support for the NDA’s Speaker nominee.
Initially, the INDIA bloc had sought the Deputy Speaker’s role. However, due to the BJP’s lack of clarity on this issue, the INDIA bloc has nominated Congress MP K Suresh as their candidate for the Speaker’s position.
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Lok Sabha Speaker election today LIVE: Why did Opposition field K Suresh?
K Suresh’s nomination as the Opposition candidate came after a tense discourse between the NDA and INDIA bloc over the post of deputy Speaker. INDIA bloc said it was willing to support NDA candidate but only if the deputy Speaker post is given to the Opposition.
“Rajnath Singh called Mallikarjun Kharge and he asked him to extend support to the Speaker. The entire Opposition said that we would support the Speaker but the convention is that the Deputy Speaker post should be given to the opposition. Rajnath Singh said that he would call back Mallikarjun Kharge but he has not done that yet,” Rahul Gandhi said.
Lok Sabha Speaker election today LIVE: ‘Om Birla vs K Suresh’; who has advantage in 543-member Lok Sabha?
A Lok Sabha Speaker is elected by a simple majority. More than half of the 543 members present in the Lok Sabha vote for a particular candidate to become the Speaker of Lok Sabha.
The NDA, which has 293 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha, enjoys a clear majority. The Opposition bloc has 234 legislators in the lower House of Parliament.
With numbers in favour of the NDA, Om Birla is set to become the Lok Sabha Speaker for a second term. Om Birla was first elected to Lok Sabha in 2014. He was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha when he returned as an MP from Kota.