Talk over the designation of Lok Sabha Speaker will resume at 5 pm with a meeting of union ministers and the ruling BJP’s allies at Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s Delhi home, according to the media reports.
Earlier the Lok Sabha Speakers were Sumitra Mahajan and Om Birla. PM Modi’s party is the single biggest in Parliament with 240 seats.
Notably, a Lok Sabha Speaker is elected by a simple majority of MPs voting. Chandrababu Naidu has an interest in the post but BJP knows it has to be more flexible than the past.
The BJP wants to name key leaders from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha – D Purandeshwari and Bhatruhari Mahtab respectively.
Mahtab is a former member of ex-Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal. Purandeshwari is the boss of the saffron party’s unit in Andhra Pradesh, and worked with the TDP to oust the then-ruling YSR Congress.
Last week Nitish Kumar’s JDU said will support the BJP’s nominee. For now the Congress K Suresh, the representative from Kerala’s Mavelikara has been name the interim or Pro Tem Speaker.
Suresh, the longest-serving MP in this House, will next week administer the oath to the new members and then adjourn the House till the 18th Speaker is appointed.
Last week the division of ministerial berths was finished last week and the Modi 3.0 cabinet took oath. The BJP needs the TDP’s 16 and the JDU’s 12 MPs to stay in power. Meanwhile, there could also be a face-off over the Deputy Speaker’s post, which has been vacant since 2019.
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