New Delhi: Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee said on Tuesday that his party was not involved in the decision-making process regarding the nomination of Kodikunnil Suresh from the Congress as the joint candidate of the INDIA bloc for the upcoming Lok Sabha Speaker’s election. The TMC leader described the move by Congress as a “unilateral decision”.
Speaking to news agency ANI on Tuesday, Banerjee said “We were not contacted about this, there was no discussion. Unfortunately, this is a unilateral decision.”
#WATCH | On K. Suresh’s candidature for Lok Sabha Speaker, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee says, “…We were not contacted about this, there was no discussion. Unfortunately, this is a unilateral decision.” pic.twitter.com/UpzcbdE5gS
— ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2024
Earlier in the day, K Suresh from the INDIA bloc and Om Birla from the NDA filed their nominations for the Speaker’s post of the 18th Lok Sabha. When Suresh filed his nomination for the Speaker’s election on Tuesday morning, the TMC was absent among the INDIA bloc parties that supported his candidacy.
Notably, this would be the first time since independence that elections will be held for the Speaker of the lower house. Before this, Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker were chosen by consensus between the ruling party and the opposition. The elections are scheduled for June 26. The following day, June 27, President Droupadi Murmu is likely to address a joint session of both houses of Parliament.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that they had communicated to Union Minister Rajnath Singh about their willingness to support the NDA’s candidate for Speaker, with the condition that the opposition gets the post of Deputy Speaker.
Speaking to the media, Rahul Gandhi said, “We have said to Rajnath Singh that we will support their candidate for Speaker, but the convention is that the post of Deputy Speaker be given to the opposition.”
The NDA, with 293 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha, has a clear majority, while the opposition INDIA bloc holds 234 MPs.
