INDIA bloc members are likely to hold a meeting tonight (June 25) at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in New Delhi to discuss the Speaker election
After naming senior leader K Suresh as its candidate for the Lok Sabha Speaker’s post, the Opposition could pick a nominee for the Deputy Speaker’s position as well, sources said on Tuesday.
A meeting of INDIA bloc members is underway at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in New Delhi to discuss the Speaker election and their possible Deputy Speaker candidate. Lok Sabha floor leaders of parties in the Opposition alliance are attending the meeting.
The meeting would be held ahead of what could be just the third contest between the government and the Opposition for the Speaker post in India’s history, as the 18th Lok Sabha braces for more possible standoffs between the warring sides. Congress leaders said they fielded Suresh for the Speaker’s post after their demand for the Deputy Speaker position did not get any positive response from the government. The ruling side said it was not on board with the Opposition’s conditional offer of support to their Speaker candidate in return for the Deputy Speaker berth.
On his WhatsApp channel, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi blamed the government for the deadlock. He alleged that while Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about cooperation and constructive politics in his appeal to the Opposition ahead of the opening of the Parliament session on Monday, the government was not following what he described as “Parliamentary Conventions”. “This formula will not work, we will change it,” he said in Hindi.
With the Congress exhibiting its intention to take the government head-on, Congress parliamentarian KC Venugopal said: “We are still waiting. If they are ready to give the Deputy Speaker post, we are ready to elect the NDA’s candidate unanimously. Yesterday, PM Modi talked about consensus for the smooth functioning of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. We are ready to support the Speaker suggested by the government’s side, provided they should also honour the Opposition. We have witnessed for the last few years that the Speakers will be from the government’s side and the Deputy Speaker from the Opposition.”
Congress ally Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav praised the Opposition move to choose a Speaker candidate. “This time the Opposition is strong,” she said. But sources in the Trinamool Congress indicated that the party was not happy with the Congress decision to field a candidate for the Speaker role, pointing out that all allies were not taken on board before the surprise move. They, however, clarified that this did not mean they would support the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominee Om Birla.
Touching upon this, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Malviya posted on X: “Both [Nationalist Congress Party’s] Sharad Pawar and [West Bengal Chief Minister] Mamata Banerjee have struck a discordant note, disapproving of Congress’s decision to contest the Speaker’s post. It may be a good idea for the Third Time Fail Rahul Gandhi to build consensus within the I.N.D.I Alliance before pontificating to the world.” The ruling side also stressed they did not want a compromise formula floated by the Opposition.
“We had a conversation with all the floor leaders of the Opposition regarding the post of the Speaker. The Speaker is not for a party, it is for the functioning of the House. The Speaker is elected unanimously. It is disheartening that Congress has nominated its candidate for the Speaker…Congress put this condition that if they get the post of Deputy Speaker, they will support our candidate for the Speaker’s post. This give and take of posts of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker is not right,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said.
