The Lok Sabha Speaker Election is official – Om Birla, the NDA nominee, has been elected as the Lok Sabha Speaker today, June 26. The motion was moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and adopted through voice votes.
The house resounded with ‘Ayes’ and ‘Noes,’ and the pro-tem speaker, Bhartruhari Mahtab, declared Om Birla the Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament. The opposition, represented by K Suresh as the INDIA bloc’s candidate, did not call for a division vote.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi accompanied Om Birla to the Lok Sabha Speaker’s chair. Modi congratulated Om Birla and expressed anticipation for his guidance over the next five years. “Your warm smile lights up the entire House,” Modi remarked to Om Birla.
For the first time in nearly five decades, the Lok Sabha Speaker was elected by vote due to the lack of consensus between the NDA and the INDIA bloc. The battle for the post resulted from the opposition’s condition that the Deputy Speaker come from their party. Traditionally, the Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker are chosen through consensus between the ruling party and the opposition.
Today, Narendra Modi initiated the motion in the Lok Sabha to elect Om Birla as Speaker amidst a power struggle with the opposition’s INDIA bloc.
The Lok Sabha Speaker contest was between BJP’s Om Birla, a three-time MP from Kota, Rajasthan, and Kodikunnil Suresh, an eight-term parliamentarian from Mavelikara, Kerala. With 293 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the NDA displayed its majority to secure Om Birla’s return to his previous position.
The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha began on June 24 and is set to end on July 3.
– With agency inputs
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Published: 26 Jun 2024, 11:20 AM IST