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Opposition panel members likely to stay away from assisting protem Speaker
The Opposition parties are unhappy with the BJP’s decision to overlook K Suresh, an eighth-term lawmaker, for the post of protem Speaker and make BJP leader Bhartruhari Mahtab the interim Speaker
Three Opposition leaders, TR Balu of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), K Suresh of the Congress and Sudip Bandopadhyay of the Trinamool Congress, who are in the panel to assist protem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab, might not perform their duties as a mark of protest, a top Opposition leader said on Saturday.
The Opposition will withdraw its leaders from the panel as it is unhappy with the BJP’s decision to overlook K Suresh, an eighth-term lawmaker, for the post of protem Speaker and make Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mahtab the interim Speaker.
The Opposition parties alleged that the BJP didn’t follow the tradition of appointing the most experienced member of the Lok Sabha as protem Speaker.
Newly-appointed parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday slammed the Congress for politicising the appointment of Lok Sabha protem Speaker and asserted that conventions were followed in selecting BJP leader Bhartruhari Mahtab.
Mathab, a seven-time lawmaker was appointed by President Droupadi Murmu as the protem Speaker on Thursday, to which the Congress accused the BJP-led government of “destroying parliamentary norms” by ignoring the claim of Suresh to the post.
Slamming the Congress, Rijiju said that Suresh, though an eight-time 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. “Do you think such an argument is even valid?” the minister shot back when asked about the Congress’ claims that Suresh was ignored for the post as he was a Dalit.
Rijiju said the Congress was “lying” and “misleading” the people about the government flouting rules in the appointment of protem Speaker.
