NEW DELHI: Amid a row over the appointment of pro-tem speaker of the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday asked why BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab was chosen for the post over his party colleague Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi, who is also in his seventh consecutive term.
The Congress has accused the government of "destroying parliamentary norms" by choosing seven-term BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab as pro-tem Speaker instead of eight-term Lok Sabha member Kodikunnil Suresh who should have got it as per the convention of naming the senior-most MP to the post.
In a post on 'X' on Sunday, Ramesh said, "Kodikunnil Suresh of the INC, who is in his eighth term, should have been Speaker Protem.
But Bhartruhari Mahtab of the BJP has been appointed on the flimsy grounds that he has a greater claim because this is his seventh consecutive term."
"If this argument is adopted, then why has Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi, a BJP MP who is also in his seventh consecutive term, not been considered? Is it because he is a Dalit like Suresh?" he asked.
Responding to Ramesh's post, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the Congress should make Suresh the Leader of the Opposition.
"If you are so concerned about the political career of Shri Kodikunnil Suresh, I would urge you to make him the Leader of the Opposition and the CM face of the UDF for the 2026 Kerala elections. Why stress so much for a temporary position?" he said on 'X'.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju has said they have picked Mahtab as he has the longest uninterrupted tenure as a member of the Lower House.
He said that Suresh, though an eight-term MP, was not a member of the Lok Sabha in 1998 and 2004 and hence did not have an uninterrupted tenure.