Congress Pushes for Rare Speaker Election, Breaking 48-Year Tradition

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju urged Congress not to force an election for the Lok Sabha Speaker post, emphasizing that the role is non-partisan. Congress leader Kodikunnil Suresh, however, nominated himself against NDA's Om Birla, breaking a 48-year tradition of unanimous selection.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday called on the Congress to refrain from forcing an election for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker, underlining that this position is non-partisan.

The plea came after Congress leader Kodikunnil Suresh filed a nomination for the Speaker post against the NDA's candidate, Om Birla, prompting a rare election for this role for the first time in 48 years.

“I appeal again for the respect and dignity of the Speaker’s post. Although we have the numbers, we are requesting that there should be no election because this post does not belong to any party,” Rijiju said.

He stated that the government had reached out to key opposition parties over the past two days to seek a consensus on the Speaker’s election.

“We aim to have the Speaker elected unanimously and unopposed. Today, we met with Congress leaders and requested their support for the Speaker. They indicated willingness but demanded the Deputy Speaker post,” Rijiju added.

The minister clarified that elections for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker are distinct processes and should not be combined.

“The Congress party’s stance was clear: if we didn’t meet their conditions, they wouldn’t support our candidate for the Speaker post,” Rijiju concluded.