Om Birla files nomination as NDA candidate for Lok Sabha speaker's post

Om Birla. Pic/PTI

Kota MP Om Birla on Tuesday filed nomination for the post of the Lok Sabha Speaker as an NDA consensus candidate, a position he held in the previous House.

JD(U) leader and Union minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh told reporters that Birla's name was decided unanimously by all NDA parties and that senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh also reached out to the opposition for their support, reported PTI.

Hitting out at the opposition, Lalan Singh said they wanted a decision on the post of deputy speaker immediately despite Rajnath Singh requesting that everyone should sit together and discuss the issue when the time comes for the selection, reported PTI.

His Cabinet colleague Piyush Goyal said it would have been better to have an consensus candidate and criticised the opposition for putting forth conditions, reported PTI.

Democracy cannot be run on conditions, he asserted, reported PTI.

The opposition INDIA bloc has fielded Congress leader K Suresh as its candidate for the speaker's post.

Earlier, Kota MP Om Birla on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid indications that he will again be the ruling National Democratic Alliance's candidate for the Lok Sabha Speaker's post.

The Lok Sabha Speaker will be elected on June 26. On June 27, President Murmu is scheduled to address a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament. The NDA, which has 293 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha, enjoys a clear majority, with the opposition INDIA bloc having 234 MPs.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the opposition will support the government on the Lok Sabha Speaker's choice if the convention is followed and the deputy speaker's post is given to the opposition bloc.

He also said that Defence Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh was yet to get back to them on the opposition's demand for the deputy speaker's post.

Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants constructive cooperation but has not returned party president Mallikarjun Kharge's call on the demand, as promised, which amounts to an insult.

"The entire opposition has said that they will support the government on the Speaker's post, but the convention is that the post of deputy speaker is given to the Opposition," he said.

"Union minister Rajnath Singh had called Mallikarjun Kharge ji and has said that he will return his call, but it has not been done. While Modi ji wants constructive cooperation they are insulting our leader by not returning the call," he told reporters.

(With inputs from PTI)