New Delhi: NDA Candidate Likely To File Nomination For Lok Sabha Speaker On June 25

NEW DELHI: The deadline to file the nomination for the post of Lok Sabha speaker is set for 12 pm on June 25.

The NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc have been at loggerheads with each other over this contentious issue. If the INDIA bloc announces its candidate for the post, it will be the first time that elections for the speaker of the lower house will be held.

Since independence, the Lok Sabha speaker and the deputy speaker have been elected by consensus between the ruling party and the opposition.

Although the BJP have not revealed their nominee, rumor has it that Om Birla, the Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha, might be in the race again.

However, Bhartruhari Mahtab, the current pro-tem Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha, is also seen as a possible contender for this post.

The nomination process is expected to take place today and the elections have been scheduled for Wednesday, June 26.

Mahtab's appointment as pro-tem Speaker had triggered a controversy as the opposition remained defiant of this move.

Leaders of the INDIA bloc carried out a protest holding copies of the Constitution inside the Parliament premises in New Delhi.

Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, party leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge actively participated in the demonstration.

The position of Deputy Speaker remained vacant in the last term and is traditionally given to the opposition. The BJP offered this post to their ally, AIADMK's Thambi Dhurai, in 2014.

It remains to be seen if the INDIA bloc, which lacks a majority in the lower house, will assert itself for the Deputy Speaker's post in the 18th Lok Sabha.

Revolutionary Socialist Party MP NK Premachandran said that candidates for both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker elections will be fielded by the INDIA bloc.

"Definitely, we will contest the Speaker post as well as the Deputy Speaker post. Let the government come out with their opinion on whether they are going to discuss with the opposition parties so as to have a consensus on the Speaker and Deputy Speaker, and then we will think of it. Otherwise, we will definitely contest," Premachandran told ANI outside Parliament.

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