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Kiren Rijiju on row over Lok Sabha pro-tem speaker: ‘Congress spreading lies’
Bhartruhari Mahtab, who won the recently concluded Lok Sabha election from Cuttack for the seventh time, was appointed as the pro-tem Speaker on June 19.
Parliamentary Affairs minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday responded to the Congress' criticism over the appointment of BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab as pro-tem Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha.
Mahtab, who won the recently concluded Lok Sabha election for the seventh time, was appointed as the pro-tem Speaker by the President of India on June 19.
The Congress has, however, accused the BJP-led government of "destroying parliamentary norms" by ignoring Kodikunnil Suresh, an eight-term Lok Sabha MP.
On Friday, Rijiju accused the Congress of “politicising” the appointment of Lok Sabha pro-tem Speaker and asserted that conventions were followed.
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Rijiju claimed that Suresh, though an eight-term MP, was not a member of the Lok Sabha in 1998 and 2004 and hence did not have an uninterrupted tenure in the Lok Sabha.
"We expected the Parliament proceedings to start on a good note. But, even before the start of the first session of the Parliament, Congress resorted to spreading lies and misleading everyone through social media posts," Rijiju said, according to PTI.
Rijiju also added that the post of pro-tem Speaker is “very temporary” and that they play their role till the election of the new Speaker.
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"I have to say it with great regret that I feel ashamed that the Congress party has talked like this. First of all, they created an issue about the pro-tem Speaker. This post of pro-tem Speaker is very temporary. They play their role till the election of the new Speaker. They do not have to do any business transaction," Rijiju said, according to PTI.
The minister cited past precedents to claim that the UPA government had ignored the seniority principle in 2004 when it had appointed eight-term member Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil as the pro-tem Speaker, when nine-term MP George Fernandes was a member of the Lok Sabha.
