Adhir Chowdhury writes to Om Birla, seeks election of LS Deputy Speaker

Chowdhury is the leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha

Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Monday wrote to Speaker Om Birla urging him to take necessary steps for election of Deputy Speaker of the House in the monsoon session of Parliament.

In his letter to the Speaker, Chowdhury said two years have passed since the 17th Lok Sabha was constituted and the House does not have Deputy Speaker.

Chowdhury said that the Office of Deputy Speaker continuing to remain vacant "is not in consonance with what has been envisaged under the Constitution as also well-established conventions".

"As the second-highest-ranking legislative officer of the Lok Sabha, the Deputy Speaker is of help in ensuring that the varied functions of the Parliament are discharged effectively, and the business of the House is conducted in a manner befitting the needs of our representative democracy," he said.

Chowdhury said it is a "very well-established convention" that the position of Deputy Speaker "is offered to the opposition party".

"Going by the constitutional provisions and well-established tradition and conventions, I would request you to ensure that necessary steps are taken for electing the Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha in the ensuing monsoon session of Parliament," he said.

The Congress leader said "abiding by the tradition" of ensuring that the post goes to the opposition, "we will be upholding the established tenets of our parliamentary democracy".

"I look forward to your initiative in this regard," the letter said.

The Congress leader said that he had in the past too urged the Speaker to complete the process of electing Deputy Speaker.