Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee expressed his discontent over the Congress' unilateral decision to nominate K Suresh as the Opposition's candidate for the Lok Sabha Speaker's position, without consulting his party.
We were not contacted about this, there was no discussion. Unfortunately, this is a unilateral decision, Banerjee stated outside Parliament.
The Opposition INDIA bloc, led by the Congress, nominated Suresh to challenge the BJP's candidate, Om Birla, for the Speaker's position. The BJP-led NDA had attempted to persuade the INDIA bloc to support Birla, but they declined, alleging that the ruling alliance had violated the convention of offering the Deputy Speaker's post to the Opposition.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh met with Congress leader KC Venugopal and DMK's TR Baalu in an attempt to reach a consensus on the Speaker's post. However, the opposition leaders refused to endorse Birla without the Deputy Speaker's position being offered to them, prompting them to walk out of the meeting.
Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Lalan Singh accused the Congress of imposing conditions, stating that the ruling alliance was willing to consider their demand during the election for Deputy Speaker.
The election for the Speaker's post will be held on Wednesday at 11 am. With the NDA holding a majority in the Lower House, Om Birla is expected to be elected as the Speaker. Birla requires 271 votes, half of the 542 seats (with the Wayanad seat vacant), to secure victory. The NDA has 293 members in the Lok Sabha, while the INDIA bloc has 233.
