Seven-term Lok Sabha MP Bhartruhari Mahtab picked Pro tem Speaker
New Delhi, June 20
Seven-term Lok Sabha MP Bhartruhari Mahtab was on Thursday appointed Pro tem Speaker by President Droupadi Murmu.
As the Pro tem Speaker, Mahtab will oversee the oath-taking of the newly elected Lok Sabha MPs in the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha, which commences on June 24 and will continue till July 3. Mahtab, who is from the Cuttack parliamentary seat, quit the Biju Janata Dal on the 2024 Lok Sabha poll eve to join the BJP and is the son of late Odisha CM Harekrushna Mahtab.
“The President is pleased to appoint Bhartruhari Mahtab, member, Lok Sabha, as the Pro tem Speaker under Article 95(1) of the Constitution to perform the duties of the Speaker till the election of the Speaker,” Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said.
He said the President had also appointed Suresh Kodikunnil, TR Baalu, Radha Mohan Singh, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Sudip Bandyopadhyay, all members of the Lok Sabha, to assist the Pro tem Speaker in the oath to the newly elected members till the election of Speaker. Suresh is the seniormost LS member and is from Congress. Baalu is from the DMK and Bandopadhyay from TMC. Singh and Kulaste are from the BJP. The election of the Speaker will take place on June 26.
