Kota, Rajasthan MP Om Birla became the speaker of the Lok Sabha for the second consecutive time. He defeated an eight-term MP from Mavelikara, Kerala K Suresh, in the first contest in five decades for the post. The Indian parliament’s speaker has been elected through consensus for 48 years now, but the election was necessitated this time due to the refusal by the ruling party to give the deputy speaker’s post to the opposition. Prime Minister Narendra Modi moved the motion to elect Om Birla to the chair which was adopted by a voice vote.
The opposition maintained that it was understandable that in the previous Lok Sabha, the opposition did not have the required number of MPs to claim the post of Deputy Speaker, but this time, as it has the numbers to be recognised as the opposition, the deputy speaker post is their right.
Immediately after Om Birla acceded to office, the Prime Minister congratulated him. He said that it was an honour for the house to have Birla in the chair.
The leader of the opposition, Rahul Gandhi, while congratulating the speaker, hoped that the voice of the opposition would be allowed to be represented in the House. Om Birla has the dubious reputation of having suspended the most number of MPs during his tenure as Speaker. The opposition has been maintaining that Om Birla worked in a biassed and bipartisan manner while acting as Speaker of the previous Lok Sabha.
Rahul Gandhi said, “The question is not how efficiently the House is run, but how clearly the voice of India is heard.” The people of India want us to defend the Constitution of India, Rahul Gandhi added.
