New Delhi: The first session of Parliament after the constitution of the 18th Lok Sabha and the swearing-in of the third consecutive BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government is expected to begin from June 24. The session is scheduled to last eight days.
Appointment Of Pro-Tem Speaker
Since, as per Article 93 of the Constitution, the Speaker’s post falls vacant just before the new Lok Sabha convenes for the first time, the President will first appoint a Pro-tem Speaker to administer the oath of office to the newly elected Members of Parliament.
Former union minister and seven-term Bharatiya Janata Party MP Radha Mohan Singh will most likely be appointed as the Pro-tem Speaker for carrying out the House proceedings since he is among the senior most members.
People Eyeing For The Post
On the first two days of the session, the newly elected members of the Lok Sabha will be administered the oath. On the third day of the session, June 26, the election of the Speaker is due to take place. Om Birla, who was the Speaker during the 17th Lok Sabha, remains a major contender for the post.
There has also been a buzz that both the Telugu Desam Party and the Janata Dal (United) were eyeing the post as they feared that at some stage BJP might want to poach their MPs and that is when the Speaker’s role would prove crucial. Though names of several TDP leaders, including GM Harish Balayogi, son of former Speaker G.M.C. Balayogi, have been doing the rounds, there has been no official word from the party in this regard.
Conversely, for the BJP too, it is important to have the Speaker from its own fraternity, as he has a crucial role when a government faces a crisis on the floor of the House. The Speaker also wields the power to disqualify a member in case of a defection. The BJP would not want to let go of this post as its own position remains precarious, since it has won only 240 seats and crossed the 272 majority threshold with the support of the allies. The total tally of NDA stands at 293.
A new name which got added to the list of probables was that of Daggubati Purandeshwari, the Andhra Pradesh president of BJP, who is also the sister of TDP leader N. Chandrababu Naidu’s wife and is therefore being seen by some as a consensus candidate.
Daughter of former Andhra Pradesh CM and TDP founder N.T. Rama Rao, Purandeshwari had entered Lok Sabha on a Congress ticket in 2004 and 2009 and has this time returned as a BJP MP from Rajahmundry.
After the election of the new Speaker, the President is expected to address the House on June 27 and the economic survey is likely to be tabled on July 3. The full Budget is then expected to be presented on July 22.
