New Delhi, May 10
Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi, who was today unanimously elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha, appealed to MPs to help Parliament play the role of an “integrating institution” at this critical juncture when the country is facing state-sponsored terrorism from across the border.
Earlier, Mr Joshi was elected unopposed as the new Speaker after the motion moved by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was adopted by voice vote in the House.
Mr Joshi, a first timer in the Lok Sabha, succeeds G. M. C. Balayogi who died in a helicopter crash two months ago.
After Deputy Speaker P.M. Sayeed declared Mr Joshi elected as the next Speaker, Mr Vajpayee and Leader of the Opposition Sonia Gandhi walked up to Mr Joshi seated in the front row of the House and escorted him to his seat. The House witnessed a minor commotion immediately after the election when a Shiv Sena member Mohan Rawale raised the slogan “Bharat Mata ki jai”, causing embarrassment to the ruling party members.
The Lok Sabha took up the election of the Speaker immediately after question hour. Mr Sayeed, who is also the returning officer, asked the Prime Minister and 11 others who had proposed Mr Joshi’s candidature to move their respective motions.
Ironically, leaders of major opposition parties decided to keep away from the exercise of proposing Mr Joshi to the post of Speaker.
The mood of the Opposition to Mr Joshi’s election was reflected by Mr Somnath Chatterjee when he asked the new Speaker not to function as a remote control, obviously referring to his relations with his party supremo Bal Thackeray.
While accepting the members’ felicitation on his unanimous election, Mr Joshi said, “Hon. Members, you are all aware of the critical situation the nation is passing through in various respects. We are confronted with the menace of state-sponsored terrorism from across the border....In this context, Parliament has to play the role of an integrating institution more consciously today than ever before”.
