Pro tem Speaker of the Lok Sabha is Bhartruhari Mahtab, a member of the BJP. A political controversy has been ignited by the selection of the seven-term Cuttack MP, who previously belonged to Naveen Patnaik’s BJD before defecting to the BJP in advance of the elections.
The Congress has taken aim at the government in power for deviating from the widely accepted practice of designating the most senior member for the position. The BJP responded to the criticism by accusing the Congress of politicising the selection of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha for a longer term.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “By convention, the MP who has served the maximum terms is appointed Speaker pro tem for the first two days when oath is administered to all newly elected MPs.”
“The senior most MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha are Kodikunnil Suresh (INC) and Virendra Kumar (BJP), both of who are now serving their 8th term. The latter is now a Union Minister and hence it was expected that Kodikunnil Suresh would be the Speaker Protem. Instead, a 7-term MP, Bhartruhari Mahtab has been appointed Speaker pro tem. He was a BJD MP for 6 terms and is now a BJP MP,” Jairam Ramesh said.
The BJP-led administration, according to Congressman K C Venugopal, is trying to “destroy parliamentary norms.”
“In yet another attempt at destroying parliamentary norms, Bhartruhari Mahtab, a seven-term MP, has been appointed the pro-tem Speaker, superseding Kodikunnil Suresh, who will be entering his eighth term,” K C Venugopal said in a post on X.
The Congress was told to “relax” after the party’s defeat in the Lok Sabha elections by the BJP.
“You have just lost an election. Relax. Reflect on third consecutive defeat, instead of whining about everything,” BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya tweeted.
In the meantime, BJP politician and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju claimed that traditions were adhered to in choosing BJP leader Bhartruhari Mahtab, who has held the position of longest continuous member of the Lower House.
He charged the leaders of Congress with “misleading statements” and “spreading lies”.
“We anticipated that the Parliamentary procedures would begin favourably. However, Congress started using social media to mislead people and spread misinformation even before the first session of Parliament convened, according to Rijiju.
