The election for the Speaker’s position in the Lok Sabha is scheduled for June 26 with the BJP-led NDA holding sufficient numbers for a likely victory. BJP’s Om Birla and Congress’ Kodikunnil Suresh will take each other head on in the election for the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha. The NDA and INDIA blocs failed to reach a consensus for the post of Deputy Speaker. The Opposition had demanded the latter post stating that there has been a convention of the Deputy Speaker office going to the Opposition. It is for the first time in the history of Independent India that the ruling and opposition sides are fielding their own candidates for the post of Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
This is thus no ordinary decision of the Congress to field its eight-time MP from Kerala, Kodikunnil Suresh, as the candidate of the Opposition bloc. It implies two things. First, the Congress argues that it was compelled to take this decision because the BJP was not giving any assurance to them that the Deputy Speaker’s post would be given to the Opposition despite talks held thrice between Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Secondly, the Congress and its allies in the Opposition believe that they need to do everything possible to counter any move made from the government’s side from day one.
The BJP, after rounds of consultations with its NDA allies especially the TDP and JD-U, has decided to go for continuity by re-nominating Om Birla for the Speaker’s post for a second consecutive term. In the previous Lok Sabha, Birla was perceived by the BJP to have run the House well. The Congress however on some occasions has expressed its dissatisfaction over how the proceedings were conducted by Birla. The Congress may have thrown the hat into the ring but it’s not going to be easy. Congress and its INDIA bloc allies do not have the required numbers. Even the Trinamool Congress is fuming as the Congress did not consult it before fielding a candidate for the Speaker’s election.
Amid the drawback in terms of numbers, it remains to be seen if the Congress succeeds in trying to portray a united Opposition in the election of the Speaker. If Om Birla, who chaired the Speaker office in the 17th Lok Sabha from 2019 to 2024, wins the June 26 election, he would become the first person over two decades to get the post for the second consecutive term. Before him, this instance has taken place only four times. Madabhushi Ananthasayanam, Gurdial Singh Dhillon, Balram Jakhar (all from Congress) and G M C Balayogi of TDP were the only ones to be re-elected to the post of the Speaker in the subsequent Lok Sabhas.
