The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) wants to retain the post of Speaker for the 18th Lok Sabha after securing 240 seats in the general election, sources said on Monday, adding the party might offer the post of Deputy Speaker to allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
Union Defence Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh has been entrusted with the task of holding talks with NDA allies, including Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Telugu Desam Party (TDP), for the pivotal parliamentary role that facilitates the smooth conduct of proceedings.
The Lok Sabha will elect its new Speaker on June 26 for which notices for motions supporting candidates can be submitted till noon a day prior, according to the Lok Sabha secretariat. Sources had said that the INDIA bloc might field a candidate for the post of Speaker if the Deputy Speaker’s post is not given to their camp.
Rejecting reports suggesting that NDA partners — TDP and JD(U) — had demanded the Speaker’s post, a senior party leader told news agency IANS that the matter would be first considered internally before discussing it with allies to reach a consensus.
While Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP said that NDA partners must finalise a consensus candidate, his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) said it would back the BJP’s decision. JD(U) leader KC Tyagi has said that his party and TDP are part of the NDA and will support the candidate nominated by BJP for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker.
“The Speaker is always of the ruling party because its number is also the highest (among alliance parties),” Tyagi said. Meanwhile, TDP national spokesperson Pattabhi Ram Kommareddy was quoted as saying by The Indian Express that the candidate must be jointly decided by NDA partners. “The NDA partners will sit together and decide who our candidate for the Speaker is going to be. Once a consensus is reached, we will field that candidate and all partners, including the TDP, will support the candidate,” Kommareddy said.
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