‘If govt gives post of Deputy Speaker or a clear assurance, a contest can be averted’: Opposition’s Speaker nominee

With the INDIA bloc nominating the Congress’s Kodikunnil Suresh, the MP from Kerala’s Mavelikkara, the stage is set for a rare contest for the Lok Sabha Speaker’s post. The ruling NDA earlier renominated BJP MP Om Birla for Speaker.

In an interview with The Indian Express, Suresh speaks about the Opposition’s decision to have a contest for the Speaker’s post rather than choose a consensus candidate, and how the move is linked to the Opposition’s play for the Deputy Speaker’s post. Excerpts:

We did not want to force a contest. It is the government’s irresponsible attitude that has created this situation. We have been saying for some days that the government should follow convention and give the post of Deputy Speaker to the Opposition. They did not give the post to the Opposition both in 2014 and 2019 on the technical ground that there was no Opposition party with the requisite numbers to claim the Leader of Opposition post. But the situation is different now.

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge seeking support for the NDA’s Speaker candidate. Kharge clearly told him that the government should follow parliamentary convention and give the Deputy Speaker’s post to the Opposition, which is its right. Singh told Kharge that he would get back. But there was no word from the government’s side.

Congress MP K C Venugopal and the DMK’s T R Baalu then met (Rajnath) Singh and reaffirmed the position. All the senior ministers, including Amit Shah and J P Nadda, were there in that room. But Singh once again sought the support of the Opposition and said the Speaker be elected first and the issue of the Deputy Speaker could be discussed later. That response was not satisfactory for us.

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