The newly elected parliamentarians of India’s parliament are reassembling today for the first session. BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab is appointed Pro-Tem speaker. Congress has said that the BJP broke from the tradition of appointing the senior most member of the house by appointing seven-term MP Mahtab as Pro-Tem speaker. The Congress was pushing for the appointment of Kodikunnil Suresh, a Dalit MP from Kerala.
The Pro-Tem Speaker will preside over the first few sessions of the Lok Sabha and will conduct the election for the new Speaker and Deputy Speaker. The regular Lok Sabha Speaker will be elected on June 26.
President Droupadi Murmu administered oath to Bhartruhari Mahtab as the Pro-Tem Speaker at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Narendra Modi was the first MP to take the oath. Rahul Gandhi will take oath tomorrow along with 260 parliamentarians. Today about 280 MPs will take oath.
The speaker’s name is likely to be announced by Wednesday. It remains to be seen if the alliance partners TDP and JDU put pressure on the BJP to have their nominee for the crucial post. A speaker’s role becomes extremely significant in times of coalition
As Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan headed towards the dias to take the oath, the opposition was heard shouting “NEET’, “NEET”. It is certain that the opposition will not let the issue of alleged irregularities in competitive exams (NEET and NET) go away.
As per tradition and rules, the president will address a joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on June 27 to outline the new government’s roadmap for the next five years. The last day of the session will be on July 3.
