Om Birla vs K Suresh: Lok Sabha Speaker election today. Here's how the numbers stack up

Parliament will witness a tight contest between BJP MP Om Birla and veteran Congress leader K Suresh for the post of the Lok Sabha Speaker today. The opposition decided to field its candidate for the post after the BJP-led NDA and the Opposition INDIA bloc failed to arrive at a consensus over the issue. Talks, however, broke down after the government was non-committal on giving the Deputy Speaker's post to the opposition. The election for the post will take place at 11 am on Wednesday.

But how do the numbers stack up? 

The NDA holds a majority in the Lok Sabha and is unlikely to face any difficuty in getting Om Birla elected. The INDIA bloc, on the other hand, has a challenging road ahead. The INDIA alliance would need 271 votes, half of 542 to win the election. While the NDA bloc has 293 members in the lower house, the INDIA bloc has 233.

There are 7 MPs who are yet to take oath, including 5 from the INDIA alliance. These MPs will be sworn in after the Speaker is elected. Moreover, the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat is also vacant as Rahul Gandhi won from both Raebareli and Wayanad but chose to retain Raebareli instead. The by-election for Wayanad Lok Sabha seat is yet tot take place. 

YSRCP, which is not a part of either the ruling NDA or the opposition INDIA bloc, has decided to back Om Birla in the election, India Today TV reported citing sources. Moreover, INDIA ally Trinamool Congress is miffed on not being consulting before fielding K Suresh for the speaker's post.

TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee called this a unilateral decision of the Congress party. "We were not contacted about this, there was no discussion. Unfortunately, this is a unilateral decision," Banerjee said. 

Om Birla won from the Kota Lok Sabha seat by a margin of over 41,000 votes. K Suresh won his eighth Lok Sabha election from the Mavelikkara seat. Suresh has also served as a Union Minister in the second UPA government.