NEW DELHI: While all eyes are on the crucial election to select the new Lok Sabha Speaker on June 26, outgoing Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Sunday said he has no role in the decision and it was for the political parties to decide on the new Speaker and the Deputy Speaker.
“All these decisions are taken by political parties. These decisions cannot be taken by me,” said Birla. The first session of Parliament will be held from June 24 to July 4.
The election of the Speaker is seen as the first test of the NDA government after the BJP fell short of securing a majority mark of 272 seats to form the government. While speculation is rife that the BJP may keep the post for the party considering the crucial role of the Speaker, its key allies TDP and JD(U) also don’t seem to be on the same page.
While JD(U) says that it will support the BJP’s pick for the Speaker post, the TDP maintains it will back a consensus candidate among NDA partners. Outgoing Speaker Om Birla and Andhra Pradesh BJP chief D Purandeswari are the frontrunners for the post.
Another contentious issue is the election of deputy speaker, a post that had been vacant for the last five years. With the INDIA bloc parties having an impressive number of 234 members in the new Lok Sabha, the opposition leaders are pitching for a deputy speaker.
While the outgoing 17th Lok Sabha was unprecedented in functioning without a deputy speaker, the Constitution mandates the election of the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha soon after the Speaker is elected.
Though Opposition parties made several representations to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in the 17th Lok Sabha, no action has been taken to appoint a deputy Speaker.