The opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc has fielded K Suresh against Om Birla for the Lok Sabha Speaker’s post. For the first time in decades, elections will be held for this key position. The Lok Sabha Speaker is chosen by a simple majority of MPs voting, and historically, all Speakers have been elected through consensus. This time, the elections will be held for the post of Speaker of Lok Sabha because of the opposition’s intractable stance.
NDA candidate Om Birla will be challenged by India Alliance’s K Suresh. Rahul Gandhi is trying to become the accepted leader of the opposition, showing he has matured. Sources say he personally asked to field K Suresh, but consensus couldn’t be reached because of him. TMC’s questioning highlighted that Rahul’s stubbornness was the reason for the lack of agreement. Moreover, TMC made it clear that they were not consulted about fielding Suresh.
After this stand of the opposition, BJP will also retain the post of deputy speaker. But this stand of the opposition has made it clear that the work of the 18th Lok Sabha will hardly run smoothly in any session. The opposition, especially Rahul Gandhi, has made up its mind that they will not let the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi work smoothly. It is evident from Rahul’s thinking that he will continue the politics of pressure till the elections of Haryana and Maharashtra to be held after three months.
Along with this, the attack on the Modi government will continue on the issues of reservation and the constitution being in danger, which were raised in the Lok Sabha elections. So that an atmosphere can be created in Haryana and Maharashtra. Elections in both the states will gain momentum immediately after the budget session.
During the beginning of the 18th Lok Sabha, Congress protested with the Constitution book on Parliament premises, while Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav waved the book and shouted slogans during Prime Minister Modi’s oath-taking inside the House. This marked the first time the opposition caused disruption during a PM’s oath-taking. In this Lok Sabha, they are determined not to let the government appear to have consensus on any issue. Previously, the opposition would support the government’s choice for Speaker, but now Rahul insists on elections, ending the possibility of consensus even for the Deputy Speaker. It’s likely BJP will choose TDP for Deputy Speaker, possibly D Purandeswari.
Congress and BJP will now clash in both houses of Parliament, with Rahul leading the opposition.
After Om Birla, MP from Kota, becomes the speaker for the third consecutive time, he will become the most powerful leader in Rajasthan BJP politics. With Birla becoming the speaker, Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma will get the most power and former CM Vasundhara Raje’s faction will become very weak in a way. Birla being made the speaker candidate again has sent a direct message that he is still in the good books of PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Birla has relations with both the leaders from the time when Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. PM Modi surprised Birla, who reached the Lok Sabha for the second time in 2019 by winning the Lok Sabha elections, by making him the Speaker.
In fact, Birla was once close to former CM Vasundhara Raje, but as soon as the Modi era started in 2014, he shifted his entire faith to Delhi. It is said that his relations with Raje had deteriorated even before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. After this, some party leaders tried to defeat him in 2014 and 2019. At the same time, Prahlad Gunjal, who rebelled from the party in 2024, contested on a Congress ticket and gave a tough challenge, but Birla won the election by overcoming all the challenges alone.
However, the party performed very poorly in the state and lost the election on 11 seats.
Even after this, Prime Minister Modi has put the most trust in Rajasthanis by appointing four out of 14 MPs of Rajasthan as ministers at the Center and giving the post of Speaker to Birla. Not only this, Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar is also from Rajasthan. Earlier, Balram Jakhar from Rajasthan had become Speaker twice and he was the first leader to complete both his terms. Birla will be the first BJP leader to get a chance for the second consecutive time.
