Lok Sabha Session Live: The second session of the 18th Lok Sabha to begin shortly.
New Delhi:
BJP’s Om Birla, who was speaker in the NDA’s previous term is set to be the Lok Sabha Speaker again, his nomination will be filed soon. Earlier today, Mr Birla met PM Modi.
The opposition INDIA bloc is unlikely to contest the post and the NDA nominee is likely to be elected unopposed, sources said ahead of filing of nomination for the key post. However, the Opposition has demanded that they be given the choice to pick the deputy speaker.
A total of 262 newly elected MPs, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took oath on Monday, the inaugural session of the 18th Lok Sabha. The remaining 281 new members will take their oaths today.
The swearing-in ceremony marked the commencement of the 18th Lok Sabha’s first session, which began with the oath-taking of the new MPs.
The Lok Sabha Speaker will be elected on June 26. On June 27, President Murmu is scheduled to address a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament.
The NDA, which has 293 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha, enjoys a clear majority, with the opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc having 234 MPs.
Here are the LIVE Updates on Parliament:
Just In| Congress’s K Suresh files nomination for Speaker’s post, forcing election for first time since 1946
After days of uncertainty over the Lok Sabha Speaker’s post, the NDA has decided to nominate Om Birla for the post again. BJP’s Om Birla was the Speaker in the previous Lok Sabha. Sources said that Mr Birla will file his nomination at 11.30 am today.
The opposition INDIA bloc is unlikely to contest the post and Mr Birla is likely to be elected unopposed, sources said. A Lok Sabha Speaker is elected by a simple majority of MPs voting.
The BJP, thanks to brute majorities after the 2014 and 2019 elections, was unchallenged in nominating Sumitra Mahajan and Om Birla to the post. This time, though, it doesn’t quite have the numbers; Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party is the single-largest in Parliament with 240 seats but is 32 short of a majority, meaning it relies on Nitish Kumar’s JDU and Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP to remain in power.
Just In| Om Birla to be Lok Sabha Speaker again, nomination to be filed soon: Sources
The nominations for Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker will take place today.
#WATCH | Delhi: Samajwadi Party Chief and MP Akhilesh Yadav reaches Parliament.
The nominations for Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker will take place today. pic.twitter.com/Xeo3hwD5NN
– ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2024
The nominations for Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker will take place today.
#WATCH | Delhi: Union Minister JP Nadda reaches Parliament.
The nominations for Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker will take place today. pic.twitter.com/CIgQnqyUHB
– ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2024
The nominations for Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker will take place today.
#WATCH | Delhi: BJP MP Om Birla reaches Parliament.
The nominations for Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker will take place today. pic.twitter.com/ukRlI6f1ud
– ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2024
The nominations for Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker will take place today.
#WATCH | Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah reaches Parliament.
The nominations for Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker will take place today. pic.twitter.com/9wgu2VWvMW
– ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2024
To counter the Opposition’s Constitution narrative during the first Parliament session after the Lok Sabha elections began, BJP leaders led By Prime Minister Narendra Modi put out social media posts to mark the 50th anniversary of the Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi-led Congress government on June 25, 1975.
“Today is a day to pay homage to all those great men and women who resisted the Emergency. The #DarkDaysOfEmergency remind us of how the Congress Party subverted basic freedoms and trampled over the Constitution of India which every Indian respects greatly,” the Prime Minister tweeted this morning.
“Just to cling on to power, the then Congress Government disregarded every democratic principle and made the nation into a jail. Any person who disagreed with the Congress was tortured and harassed. Socially regressive policies were unleashed to target the weakest sections.
“Those who imposed the Emergency have no right to profess their love for our Constitution. These are the same people who have imposed Article 356 on innumerable occasions, got a Bill to destroy press freedom, destroyed federalism and violated every aspect of the Constitution,” he said.
In a scathing attack on the Congress, the Prime Minister said that the “mindset which led to the imposition of the Emergency is very much alive among the same Party which imposed it”. “They hide their disdain for the Constitution through their tokenism, but the people of India have seen through their antics and that is why they have rejected them time and again,” he said.
The government has fielded Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju to build consensus on the choices for the Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker post, sources have said.
The senior BJP leaders, it is learnt, have spoken to top Opposition leaders — Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, DMK leader MK Stalin and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee — on this subject. Talks are also being held with key NDA allies Telugu Desam Party and Janata Dal United, sources have said.
The deadline to file nomination for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker is 12 pm today and an election, if any, will be held tomorrow. All Speakers so far have been elected unanimously and an election, if it happens, will be a first.
Just In| Union Minister Rajnath Singh is speaking to opposition leaders in a bid to build consensus for the post of Speaker and Deputy Speaker, Parliamentary Affairs Minister also reaching out to opposition leaders.
With the deadline to file the nomination for the post of Lok Sabha speaker being 12 pm Tuesday, the battle between the NDA and the opposition has drawn out. If the INDIA bloc announces its candidate for the post, it will be the first time that elections will be held for the Speaker of the lower house.
Since independence, the Lok Sabha speaker and deputy speaker have been elected by consensus between the ruling party and the opposition.
- A total of 262 newly elected MPs, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took oath on Monday, the inaugural session of the 18th Lok Sabha. The remaining 281 new members will take their oaths on Tuesday.
- Among the key leaders who will oath at the Parliament today include Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav, Mahua Moitra, Supriya Sule and Kanimozhi.
- Bhartruhari Mahtab of the BJP was sworn in as the pro-tem Speaker of the House yesterday by President Draupadi Murmu.