After the Speaker’s address, the Speaker Pro Tem will take oath to the Council of Ministers as a member of the House of Representatives. Image credit: ANI
The newly elected members of the 18th Lok Sabha will take oath of office on June 24. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha will be elected on June 26. President Drupadi Murmu will address a joint sitting of both Houses on June 27.
The controversy over the appointment of seven-term Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Bhartruhari Mahtab as interim Speaker is expected to cloud the proceedings. Opposition parties have criticised the move, alleging that the administration has ignored Congress MP K Suresh’s claim to be made Speaker.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju asserted that Mahatab was eligible for the post as he had served seven consecutive terms as an MP.
While this will be Suresh’s fourth consecutive term as a member of the Lok Sabha after losing elections in 1998 and 2004, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said Mahtab was a deserving candidate for the post as he had served seven consecutive terms as a member of the Indian Lok Sabha. He was previously elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989, 1991, 1996 and 1999.
Mahatab will be sworn in as interim Speaker of the Indian Lok Sabha by President Draupadi Murmu at the Presidential Palace on Monday.
Mahtab is expected to arrive at Parliament House at 11 am and declare the Parliament in session.
Mahtab will then ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Speaker of the Indian Lok Sabha, to administer oath as a member of the Lok Sabha.
The interim speaker will then swear in a panel of committees appointed by the president to assist in running the parliament’s business until the speaker election on June 26.
The President appointed Kodikunnil Suresh (Indian National Congress), TR Bahl (Indian Democratic Party), Radha Mohan Singh and Paggan Singh Kulaste (both Bharatiya Janata Party) and Sudip Bandopadhyay (Workers Party of India) to assist Mahatab in administering oath/sworn statements to the newly elected members of the Lok Sabha.
After the Speaker Temporary will administer the oath/swearing in to the Council of Ministers as Members of the House of Representatives. Each State Representative, in alphabetical order, will be sworn in or sworn in over the next two days.
The election for the Speaker of India’s Lok Sabha will be held on Wednesday and the Prime Minister is expected to present his Council of Ministers to the House soon afterwards.
The President is scheduled to address a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament on June 27. Debate on the motion of thanks for the President’s address will begin on June 28. The Prime Minister is expected to respond to the debate on July 2 or 3.
Both houses will go into a short recess and are due to reconvene on July 22 for the presentation of the federal budget.
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