NEW DELHI: India’s lower house of parliament will witness an unprecedented election for its speaker for the first time since 1976, with Congress leader Kodikunnil Suresh nominated as the opposition candidate against NDA candidate Om Birla.
Indian National Congress Party leader Rahul Gandhi said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had given no commitment on the opposition’s claim for the vice-chairman’s post.
While elections for the Speaker were common before independence, elections for the Speaker of the Lok Sabha have only been held three times in independent India – in 1952, 1967, and 1976.
In 1952, G. V. Mavalankar of the Indian National Congress was elected Speaker of the Indian Parliament. He received 394 votes, while his opponent, Shantaram More, received only 55 votes.
In 1967, Tenneti Viswanatham contested the election for Speaker of the Indian Parliament against Congress candidate Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, who won the election with 278 votes to Viswanatham’s 207.
The 5th Lok Sabha was extended by a year in 1975 after then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi declared Emergency. The then Speaker, GS Dhillon, had resigned on December 1, 1975.
On 5 January 1976, Bhagat, leader of the Indian National Congress Party, was elected Speaker of the Indian Parliament. Gandhi moved a motion to elect Bhagat as Speaker, while Congress leader Prasannabhai Mehta moved a motion to elect Jagannathrao Joshi, leader of the Jana Sangha Party, as Speaker. Bhagat received 344 votes, while Joshi received 58.
In 1998, Sharad Pawar, then leader of the Indian National Congress Party, moved a motion to elect PA Sangma as Speaker, but it was rejected. After Pawar’s motion was rejected, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee moved a motion to elect TDP member GMC Balayogi as Speaker of the Indian Lok Sabha. Vajpayee’s motion was carried.
Since independence, only four people — MA Ayyangar, GS Dhillon, Balram Jakhar and GMC Balayogi — have retained the coveted post in subsequent assembly elections.
Jakhar has served as Speaker of the 7th and 8th Lok Sabha and holds the honour of being the only Speaker to serve two complete terms.
Balayogi was elected as the 12th Speaker of the Indian Parliament, a term of 19 months, and on 22 October 1999, he was elected as the 13th Speaker of the Indian Parliament, a position he held until his death in a helicopter crash on 3 March 2002.
When the Indian National Congress on Tuesday nominated eight-term MP Kodikunnil Suresh as Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju appealed to the Opposition to reconsider its decision.
Published June 25, 2024 15:01 IST
