Speaker’s post set to see election as talks fail, govt says Oppn trying to ‘dictate’ terms

The government and Opposition are locked in a faceoff after the ruling NDA decided to renominate BJP MP Om Birla for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker while not deciding on the post of Deputy Speaker. The Opposition responded by fielding Congress MP from Kerala Kodikunnil Suresh for the post of Speaker, setting the stage for a rare contest for the high office.

Sources in the government said it will reach out to the Opposition on the issue of Deputy Speaker, while emphasising that the Congress cannot “dictate” terms by saying that it will support the NDA’s Speaker candidate only if the Deputy Speaker post is given to the Opposition. Setting such conditions, senior government ministers said, was unacceptable.

Birla, who was Speaker in the 17th Lok Sabha, filed the nomination papers after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in the presence of senior ministers and NDA leaders. Minutes later, three sets of nominations were filed for Suresh.

Earlier, the government reached out to the Opposition to arrive at a consensus for the post of Speaker, but the Opposition – combative since its strength has gone up – insisted that the government give a commitment on giving the post of Deputy Speaker to the Opposition.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and several other leaders of the Opposition in a bid for consensus. Then, senior Congress leader K C Venugopal and veteran DMK leader T R Baalu met Rajnath Singh in the presence of senior ministers Amit Shah, J P Nadda, Piyush Goyal and Rajesh Ranjan alias Lallan Singh.

Sources said the government side told the Opposition leaders that the first priority was to elect the Speaker. “Rajnath wanted to