By voice vote on Wednesday, the Lok Sabha chose Om Birla, a candidate for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), to be the Speaker of the lower house of parliament.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Birla on his victory and expressed his anticipation for the Speaker’s leadership during the ensuing five years.
“Your sweet smile keeps the entire House happy…The previous Lok Sabha passed several path-breaking legislations under your leadership,” PM Modi told Birla while addressing the Lok Sabha.
In the meantime, Birla received well wishes from Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition, who escorted him to the chair alongside PM Modi and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.
For the first time in decades, the Lok Sabha Speaker election was conducted in Parliament because to a lack of agreement between the Congress-led INDIA bloc opposition and the BJP-led NDA government. The Congress had fielded Kodikunnil Suresh as its Lok Sabha Speaker candidate against BJP’s Om Birla.
Traditionally, the opposition and the ruling party work together to elect the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the LokSabha. But this time, a lack of resolve on the part of the two led to an election. There have only ever been three previous elections for this position in history: in 1952, 1967, and 1976.
Birla, the 18th Speaker of the Lok Sabha, was born in 1962. When he was appointed Speaker of the Lok Sabha in 2019, a post often held by senior leaders, he had served two terms as an MP.
In 1987, Birla started her political career in Kota as the district head of the BJP’s youth wing. He was initially elected to the Kota assembly seat in 2003. He continued to serve as a legislator for Rajasthan till 2014, when he was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time from Kota-Bundi.
Birla was chosen to serve as the 17th Lok Sabha’s Speaker on June 19, 2019. During his term, the Women’s Reservation Bill and other historic laws were passed by the Parliament. It eliminated Article 370 as well.
