A 1st in history: Opposition to contest Lok Sabha Speaker post, K Suresh files nomination

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, June 25

The opposition on Tuesday decided to contest the election of Lok Sabha speaker after the government, they said, was non-committal to give the Deputy Speaker’s post to the Opposition.

K Suresh, the eight-term MP of the Congress, filed his nomination for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker.

This is the first time in country’s parliamentary history that the opposition has set up a contest for the key constitutional post.

From the ruling NDA side, outgoing Speaker Om Birla has filed the nomination papers for the post after the government decided to retain him.

Earlier, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had said that support for Lok Sabha Speaker nominee of the government was conditional to the Opposition being given the post of Deputy Speaker.

Congress leader K C Venugopal and DMK’s TR Baalu went to meet Union Ministers Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah to discuss the Deputy Speaker issue and returned saying the government was non-committal.