Lok Sabha heads for 'historic' election for Speaker's post : It's Om Birla vs K Suresh

• The Lok Sabha is set to witness an unprecedented election for the Lok Sabha Speaker's post on Wednesday. The NDA has re-nominated BJP MP Om Birla as its candidate, while the Opposition INDIA block has decided to field veteran Congress leader and eight-time MP K Suresh
• Notably, the lower House has never seen an election for the Speaker's post since India's independence. The last time such an election took place was in 1946.
• The INDIA bloc said it was willing to back Om Birla, but sought immediate assurance of the Deputy Speaker post to be allotted to a member of the Opposition, in keeping with parliamentary tradition

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha is set to witness an unprecedented election for the Lok Sabha Speaker's post on Wednesday after the ruling BJP-led NDA and the Opposition INDIA bloc failed to reach a consensus on the candidate.

The NDA has re-nominated BJP MP Om Birla as its candidate, while the Opposition has decided to field veteran Congress leader and eight-time MP K Suresh.

Earlier, Congress leader K C Venugopal and DMK's T R Baalu walked out of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's office, refusing to endorse NDA candidate Birla without being offered the Deputy Speaker's position.

If elected, which is likely since the NDA has the requisite numbers, Birla will be the first Lok Sabha Speaker to continue for a second term in 35 years. Birla had won the Kota Lok Sabha seat by a margin of more than 41,000 votes in the general election, while K Suresh (68) is a Congress MP from Kerala's Mavelikara and the longest-serving Member of Parliament.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju tried to build a consensus on the Lok Sabha Speaker candidate after the Opposition INDIA bloc said it was considering its options.

The INDIA bloc, earlier in the day, said it was willing to back Birla, but sought immediate assurance of the Deputy Speaker post to be allotted to a member of the Opposition, in keeping with parliamentary tradition. However, this was not accepted as the BJP-led NDA did not want any conditional support.

Talking to media after filing his nomination, Suresh said: “There is a convention in the Lok Sabha that the Speaker will be from the ruling party and the Deputy Speaker will be from the Opposition. Deputy Speaker is our right. But they are not ready to give it to us.

Till 11:50 am (on Tuesday) we were waiting for a response from the government, but they did not give any response. That is why we filed the nomination.”

The Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker have been chosen through consensus between the ruling party and the Opposition. However, if election is necessitated, the Lok Sabha Speaker is elected by a simple majority of MPs voting.