Who is Om Birla, BJP MP elected as Lok Sabha Speaker?
After the Congress’s Balram Jakhar in 1985, the Kota parliamentarian has become the first speaker in 39 years to get re-elected as speaker.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Om Birla has been elected as the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha through a voice vote after Prime Minister Narendra Modi moved the motion in the House.
Om Birla defeated the Opposition's candidate, an eight-term Congress MP, Kodikkunil Suresh, through a voice vote.
After being elected as the Speaker, Birla occupied the chair. He was accompanied by Prime Minister Modi, LoP Rahul Gandhi, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.
After 1952, 1967, and 1976, this was the fourth time the Speaker was elected by way of an election.
Who is Om Birla?
1.Birla has been elected as the Speaker of the Lower House of the Parliament for the second term in a row.
2. He is as an MP from Rajasthan's Kota Lok Sabha constituency. He was first elected as an MP in 2014.
Lok Sabha elects Om Birla as Speaker by voice vote
3. After the Congress’s Balram Jakhar in 1985, the Kota parliamentarian became the first speaker in 39 years to get re-elected to the Lok Sabha’s highest office.
4. Born in 1962, his political career started as the district president of the BJP’s youth wing in Kota in 1987.
5. He previously served as a member of the Rajasthan assembly, representing the Kota South assembly constituency from 2003 to 2014.
7. During his previous tenure, the Lok Sabha’s efficiency improved as the Parliament withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, passed landmark legislation, and scrapped Article 370.
8. Under him, in the very first session in 2019, all first-time members got an opportunity to speak and during the first session’s Zero Hour, members raised 1,066 subjects — a record for any one session in the history of the Lok Sabha.
Om Birla likely to be Lok Sabha Speaker for 2nd time in a row
9. While many MPs complained about the curtailing of their speeches, Birla was the first Speaker to provide MPs with clippings of their speeches to help them circulate them on social media.
10. He also started a new system of briefing sessions for MPs on bills or policies to improve the quality of debate. The shifting of Parliament from the colonial-era building to the new building is perhaps the biggest highlight of Birla’s first tenure.