BJP holds meeting ahead of Lok Sabha Speaker's election

New Delhi [India], June 25 (ANI): The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a meeting at the residence of Union Minister Ajay Tamta on Tuesday, the second day of the 18th Lok Sabha ahead of the election to the post of Speaker.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, BJP National General Secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam and other party leaders were present in the meeting.
Om Birla, the NDA nominee for the Speaker's post met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Parliament House on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, G M Harish (Balayogi) whip of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), has issued a three-line whip to all TDP Members of Parliament, mandating their presence and vote for the NDA candidate, Om Birla, in the upcoming Speaker elections. All members have been requested to gather at the Parliamentary office by 10:30 am on Wednesday. The TDP is a key ally of the BJP in the NDA 3.0 government.
Efforts by the BJP's top leadership to reach a consensus on the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha came to naught when the INDIA bloc decided to nominate 8-time MP K Suresh for the post.
His nomination followed the filing of nomination by BJP's Kota MP Om Birla for the same position. Birla previously served as the Speaker in the 17th Lok Sabha.
Traditionally, the Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker have been elected by consensus between the ruling party and the opposition.
The election for the post of Speaker has taken place at least twice in India's parliamentary history. The first instance was in 1952 when Congress' GV Malvankar contested against CPI's candidate Shankar Shantaram More. The second instance was in 1976 when Congress' BR Bhagat contested against Jagannathrao Joshi from Jan Sangh and was supported by Congress O.
Rahul Gandhi said that his party had informed Rajnath Singh that the Opposition is prepared to support NDA's Speaker candidate, on the condition that the Deputy Speaker position is given to the opposition.
The opposition INDIA bloc also held a meeting of its floor leaders at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi on Tuesday, to strategize on the election of the Speaker. Congress MPs Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, president of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, Hanuman Beniwal and other leaders of the INDIA bloc were present in the meeting.
The Lok Sabha Speaker will be elected on Wednesday. On June 27, President Murmu is scheduled to address a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament.INDIA bloc candidate K Suresh is currently the longest-serving Lok Sabha MP, as he has remained MP for 29 years.
Suresh was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989, and thereafter, he won consecutively in the 1991, 1996, and 1999 general elections to the Lok Sabha from the Adoor constituency for four straight terms.Suresh, who won his eighth Lok Sabha election from Mavelikkara (Kerala) in the 2024 general elections, has represented the seat four times in the past.
He is the working president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and was the chief whip of the Congress Parliamentary Party in the 17th Lok Sabha. (ANI)