New Delhi: In a surprising move, eight-time Congress MP from Kerala's Mavelikara constituency Kodikunnil Suresh filed the nomination for the Lok Sabha Speaker post on Tuesday. While Suresh was fielded as the INDIA bloc candidate, Kota MP Om Birla will be the NDA candidate for Speaker election. This is the first time an election is being held for the post of Speaker in the Parliament since 1946. The voting will take place on Wednesday.
The nomination process witnessed a dramatic turn when Congress leader K C Venugopal and DMK's T R Baalu walked out of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's office, refusing to support NDA's candidate Birla unless the Deputy Speaker's position was offered to the opposition. Venugopal criticized BJP for not committing to this demand.
Efforts by Union ministers including Amit Shah, J P Nadda, and Rajnath Singh to persuade opposition leaders proved unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Lalan Singh accused Congress of setting conditions, asserting their readiness to discuss the demand during the Deputy Speaker's election.
Over ten nominations were submitted in support of Birla's candidacy, including endorsements from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, J P Nadda, and BJP allies like TDP, JD(U), JD(S), and LJP (R). Birla served as Speaker in the previous Lok Sabha as well and if he wins he would be the first person to get the post for the second term in 25 years. Before filing his nomination, Birla also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has returned to the Lok Sabha for the third time from Kota in Rajasthan.
In contrast, three sets of nominations backed Suresh, a prominent Dalit leader and seasoned MP. Suresh, an eight-time MP from Kerala, said it is not about winning or losing, but about a convention that Speaker will be of ruling party and deputy speaker will be of opposition.
"Last two Lok Sabhas, they denied us deputy speaker's post because they said you are not recognised as the opposition. Now we are recognised as the opposition, deputy speaker post is our right. But they are not ready to give us. Till 11.50 we were waiting for reply from government's side but they did not give any reply," he told reporters.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had expressed opposition's willingness to support the government's choice for Speaker under conventional norms, provided the Deputy Speaker role was accorded to the opposition. He also highlighted Prime Minister Modi's failure to respond to Mallikarjun Kharge's demand, condemning it as disrespectful and questioning the government's commitment to cooperative governance.