Big twist in Speaker post fight: INDIA bloc fields Congress MP K Suresh against NDA's Om Birla

In a big twist, the INDIA bloc has fielded Congress MP K Suresh for the post of Speaker. The decision comes after the NDA fielded BJP MP Om Birla for the post of Speaker and did not update the Opposition about the post of Deputy Speaker. 

The INDIA bloc was ready to support the NDA candidate for the Speaker's post but demanded the Deputy Speaker's post. However, the NDA was non-committal about giving the Deputy Speaker's post to the Opposition. 

Reacting to the INDIA bloc's move to field eight-time MP K Suresh for the Speaker's post, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said the Opposition asked the government to first decide the name for Deputy Speaker's then they would support the Speaker candidate. "We condemn such politics. A good tradition would have been to choose the Speaker unanimously."

Goyal said the Speaker does not belong to any party or opposition. "He (Speaker) belongs to the entire House. Similarly, the Deputy Speaker also does not belong to any party or group; he belongs to the entire House and hence there should be consent of the House. Such conditions that only a particular person or from a particular party should be the Deputy Speaker,  do not fit into any tradition of the Lok Sabha."

On Monday, RSP MP NK Premchandran said the opposition could field a candidate for the post of speaker if the government does not make any effort to build a consensus on its choice. On a day opposition leaders refused to be a part of the panel to assist the pro-tem speaker, the MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) -- which is part of the INDIA bloc -- said the practice is that the government holds discussions to build consensus around the post of speaker. 

"Normal practice is that the government has to discuss with opposition parties to have a consensus candidate for speaker, though they have a majority. So far, nothing has come from the government. If there is no consensus, definitely we will contest for the posts of speaker and deputy speaker," Premchandran told PTI.