A rift has emerged within the I.N.D.I.A. bloc as the Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday claimed that his party was not consulted about K Suresh’s candidature as the Opposition’s joint nominee for the Lok Sabha Speaker post.
“No one contacted us. There have been no talks, unfortunately, this has been a unilateral decision,” Banerjee said. Banerjee further said that party chief Mamata Banerjee will take a decision on backing Suresh.
Notably, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc fielded Congress leader K Suresh as its candidate for the Speaker’s position against BJP’s Om Birla. Sources said over 10 sets of nominations were filed in support of Birla’s candidature, including from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Shah, Singh and Nadda, and BJP allies like TDP, JD(U), JD(S) and LJP (R). Three sets of nominations were filed in support of Suresh, a Dalit leader and eight-term MP.
Sources said that the TMC has not signed K Suresh’s nomination for Speaker and may skip the opposition meeting tonight. Leaders from the INDIA bloc are scheduled to gather at Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence at 8 PM to chalk out its strategy.
The election for the Speaker’s position is scheduled for Wednesday morning, with the NDA holding sufficient numbers for a likely victory. BJP’s Om Birla and Congress’ Kodikunnil Suresh will take each other head on in the 18th Lok Sabha Speaker election.
The NDA and INDIA blocs failed to reach a consensus for the post of Deputy Speaker. The Opposition demanded the latter post stating that there has been a convention of the Deputy Speaker office going to the Opposition. After the Opposition’s talks with Rajnath Singh, who the BJP entrusted to hold negotiations with the other side, remained inconclusive, election of the Speaker of Lok Sabha became a necessity.
