Why is Lok Sabha seeing a rare election to the Speaker’s post?
Except for two occasions, the government and the Opposition have always reached consensus on the matter.
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Minutes after the ruling National Democratic Alliance announced Om Birla of the Bharatiya Janata Party as its nominee for the post of the Lok Sabha Speaker, Kodikunnil Suresh of the Congress also filed a nomination, paving the way for a rare contest for the post.
Since Independence, elections to the Speaker’s post have been held only on two occasions – in the first Lok Sabha in 1952, and then in 1976, when the tenure of the fifth Lok Sabha was extended by a year after declaration of Emergency. For the 18th Lok Sabha too, efforts had been made to build consensus between the government and the Opposition over the choice of Speaker, but they did not work out.
On Tuesday morning, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi told reporters that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had requested Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge over a phone call to extend support for the government’s choice for the post of the Speaker.
“The entire Opposition has said that we will support the Speaker [candidate], but the convention is that the deputy Speaker should be from the Opposition,” Gandhi said. “Yesterday evening, Rajnath Singh ji had said he would call back Kharge ji. He has not done that so far.”
Gandhi said this showed that Prime...
