INDIA vs NDA for LS Speaker

New Delhi, NT Bureau: The ruling BJP-led NDA on Tuesday maintained its streak of continuity in its third term by fielding previous Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for the crucial parliamentary position again, but its bid for a consensus was thwarted by the opposition which forced an election by nominating Kodikunnil Suresh as its candidate.

The opposition's last-minute decision to go for a rare contest came after senior BJP leaders did not agree to its precondition that the INDIA bloc must be offered the post of Deputy Speaker in lieu of supporting Birla, who is the clear favourites in case of an election.

A brief interaction involving Congress leader K C Venugopal and DMK's T R Baalu from the opposition and Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah and J P Nadda, to evolve a consensus ended in acrimony as both sides stuck to their position.

Both opposition leaders walked out, with Venugopal accusing the government of not following the "convention" of an opposition candidate for the Deputy Speaker's position and announcing the decision to field a candidate against Birla.

The scheduled day for picking the Speaker is Wednesday and if an election occurs, it will be only the third time in Lok Sabha's history, official sources said. With the NDA having 293 MPs and the INDIA bloc 233, numbers clearly favour Birla in Lok Sabha, which has 542 members after Rahul Gandhi resigned from one of the two seats he was elected from.

At least three independent members also support the opposition. The NDA is hopeful that some unaligned parties, including the YSR Congress having four MPs, will also back Birla.