NDA picks Om Birla for Lok Sabha Speaker’s post, Opposition fields Congress’ K Suresh

While the ruling National Democratic Alliance on Tuesday nominated Bharatiya Janata Party MP Om Birla for the Lok Sabha Speaker’s post, Congress leader Kodikunnil Suresh also filed his nomination, The Indian Express reported.

The Opposition INDIA bloc fielding Suresh has forced an election for the Speaker’s position for the first time in several decades, according to reports.

Birla, the MP from Rajasthan’s Kota constituency, was the Speaker during the 17th Lok Sabha between 2019 and 2024. Suresh is the MP from Kerala’s Mavelikara.

An election for the Speaker’s post takes place only if the House does not elect a candidate unanimously. The deadline to file nominations for the election was 12 pm on Tuesday.

The election will take place on Wednesday.

In the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections, the BJP won 240 seats. This was a significant fall from its tally of 303 seats in 2019. As it fell short of the majority mark of 272 seats, it had to depend on its partners in the National Democratic Alliance to form the government.

The Opposition INDIA bloc collectively has 232 seats in the Lower House.

Janata Dal (United) leader Lalan Singh said that Birla’s name was decided unanimously by all National Democratic Alliance parties and that senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh had also reached out to the Opposition for their support, PTI reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had said that the Opposition...

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