Kota MP Om Birla filed his nomination for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker on Tuesday after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While the BJP-led NDA stuck to continuity with Birla as its candidate for the Speaker’s post, the Opposition sprung a surprise by nominating eight-term Congress MP K Suresh for the Speaker’s post, ensuring a contest in the Lower House.
It was earlier speculated that the Opposition may not name its own candidate, letting the NDA nominee get elected unopposed. Political circles were also abuzz with rumours that the Deputy Speaker position would go to the Opposition.
Om Birla won the Kota parliamentary seat by a margin of more than 41,139 votes in the Lok Sabha elections, becoming the first presiding officer in 20 years to be re-elected to the Lower House. The last Lok Sabha speaker to get re-elected to the Lower House was P A Sangma, who was the presiding officer of the 11th Lok Sabha from 1996 to 1998.
With the theme of continuity marking much of its choices since it returned to power for a third term, there was a view in a section of NDA leaders that Om Birla, who was the Speaker in the previous Lok Sabha, would be the way to go this time too.
The ruling NDA and the Opposition have already locked horns on seven-term MP Bhartruhari Mahtab from the BJP being made the pro-tem speaker, skipping K Suresh who is serving his eighth term in the Lower House.
The NDA has 293 MPs while the opposition INDIA bloc has 234 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha. A few independent MPs have announced their support to the Congress but the ruling alliance has a clear majority in the House.
WHO IS OM BIRLA: A PROFILE
When he was picked for the job in 2019, Om Birla, then a two-time BJP MP from Rajasthan, was a relative newcomer for the post traditionally held by seniors. A surprise pick, Birla’s name back then was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.
Starting his political journey as a student leader, Birla was elected to the Rajasthan Assembly for three consecutive terms in 2003, 2008 and 2013. He won his first Lok Sabha election in 2014 and was again elected this year from Rajasthan’s Kota-Bundi seat.
From 1991 to 2003, he was a key leader in the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) as a state-level president first and then, as a vice-president at the national level. Birla, who holds a Masters degree in commerce, has been a member of the Standing Committee on Energy in Parliament, the Committee on Petitions and the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
In 2019, he succeeded eight-time MP Sumitra Mahajan as the Lok Sabha speaker, a post traditionally held by senior MPs.
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