18th Lok Sabha: Om Birla elected as Speaker for second straight term

LOP Rahul reminds him of his duty to honour Constitution and allow Oppn to raise people's voice

Lok Sabha on Wednesday elected ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate Om Birla Speaker for a second consecutive term by a voice vote.

Members of the Opposition INDIA bloc, who had fielded Congress' Kodikunnil Suresh for the post, moved motions in support of their candidate but did not insist on a division of votes, which would have necessitated a vote count.

After the election, Opposition members, led by Leader of the Opposition (LOP) Rahul Gandhi, congratulated Birla but reminded him of his duty to honour the Constitution and allow them to raise people's voice in the House. They said large-scale suspensions of Opposition MPs, as had happened in the previous Lok Sabha, were undesirable.

After Birla was elected, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and LOP Gandhi flanked him with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju in tow to escort him to the Speaker's chair, which Pro-Tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab vacated. It was Gandhi's first day in a constitutional post. The Congress leader, wearing a white kurta-pyjama instead of his customary white T-shirt, also shook hands with the PM.

In his first address to the House, Birla hoped for fewer disruptions in the fresh Lok Sabha. He said rushing into the Well of the House is not a tradition of Parliament and that he had to take tough decisions to ensure decorum. But an adjournment on the first day of Birla’s Speakership in the 18th Lok Sabha occurred when he read out a resolution condemning the "dictatorship" during the Emergency imposed on June 25, 1975, and the Congress strangulating "Babasaheb Ambedkar's Constitution". The Opposition members protested the resolution, which led to the House being adjourned. BJP members demonstrated outside Parliament House, demanding an apology from the Congress for the Emergency. In a post on X, the PM lauded the Speaker for the resolution.

The election of the Speaker, however, took place amicably. Congress' Jairam Ramesh later said the INDIA bloc didn't insist on a division of votes as it wanted a "spirit of consensus and cooperation to prevail", which “was lacking in the actions of the Prime Minister and the NDA”. However, Trinamool Congress' Abhishek Banerjee said the Pro-Tem Speaker did not allow voting when several Opposition MPs sought a division of votes. He alleged that it showed the government did not have the numbers.

Leaders of the INDIA bloc later said they would keep up pressure on the government and the Speaker for the House to elect a Deputy Speaker. According to the rules, the Speaker fixes the date for the election of the Deputy Speaker. The 17th Lok Sabha was the only one since 1952 to not have a Deputy Speaker. The Opposition has been demanding that the government honour the tradition that the occupant of the post is an Opposition MP.

Birla's is the fifth instance of a Speaker serving beyond the tenure of one Lok Sabha. It was also a rare occasion when a contest took place. A division of votes in a Speaker’s election had last taken place in 1976.

In his address, the first in the 18th Lok Sabha, Modi praised the balance shown by Birla in maintaining decorum of the House and ensuring its efficiency, especially during the pandemic years.

Gandhi hoped the chair would heed the Opposition's voice. The Congress leader said the question is not how efficiently the House is run but how much of India's voice is allowed to be heard.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav hoped that actions like suspension of MPs would not be taken as they hurt the dignity of the House. Other opposition leaders also brought up the issue of suspensions of members in the previous Lok Sabha as "not desirable".