Bhartruhari Mahtab became the Protem Speaker for the 18th Lok Sabha, Congress protested

New Delhi: Seven-time MP Bhartruhari Mahtab was on Thursday appointed as the pro tem Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said. Mahtab, a BJP MP from Cuttack, has been appointed as the pro tem Speaker by President Draupadi Murmu under Article 95 (1) of the Constitution to discharge duties as presiding officer until the election of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. The newly elected members of the 18th Lok Sabha will take oath before the pro tem Speaker.

A panel of these leaders was formed to assist the Protem Speaker
Rijiju said the pro tem Speaker will be assisted by a panel of presiding officers comprising Congress leader K Suresh, DMK leader TR Balu, BJP’s Radha Mohan Singh and Faggan Singh Kulaste and Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay. Mahtab had quit the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) to join the BJP before the Lok Sabha elections.

Congress opposed the appointment of Mehtab as Protem Speaker
Congress has opposed the appointment of Bhartruhari Mahtab as the Protem Speaker. Congress said that the appointment of BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab as the temporary Speaker of the Lok Sabha instead of its eight-time MP Kodikunnil Suresh is another attempt to destroy parliamentary norms. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said that Suresh should have been appointed as the temporary Speaker because he/she is an eight-time MP, while Mahtab is a seven-time MP.

‘Attempt to destroy parliamentary norms’
Congress party general secretary KC Venugopal posted on Twitter: “In yet another attempt to subvert parliamentary norms, Bhartruhari Mahtab (seven-time MP) has been appointed as the pro tem Speaker of Lok Sabha, replacing Kodikunnil Suresh. Suresh will enter his/her 8th term as MP.” “It is an undisputed norm that the senior-most MP presides over the proceedings of the House before the Speaker is duly elected. It is a matter of immense pride for our party that K Suresh, a leader from the marginalised sections of society, has achieved this feat of being an eight-time MP,” he/she said.

‘Why did the government ignore K Suresh?’
Ramesh said the government should explain why it ignored K Suresh, what was the reason that disqualified him/her from the post? Are there some deeper issues influencing this decision, perhaps beyond just merit and seniority? According to tradition, the MP who has served the maximum term is appointed the pro tem speaker for the first two days, when all the newly elected MPs are sworn in.

he/she also said, ‘The most senior MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha are Kodikunnil Suresh (Congress) and Virendra Kumar (BJP), both of whom are now completing their 8th term. Kumar is now a Union minister and so it was expected that Kodikunnil Suresh would be the pro tem Speaker. In his/her place, seven-time MP Bhartruhari Mahtab has been appointed as the Protem Speaker. he/she was a six-time Biju Janata Dal MP and is now a BJP MP. The first session of the eighteenth Lok Sabha will begin on June 24. The newly elected members will take oath on June 24-25. The election of the Lok Sabha Speaker is to be held on June 26.

(With agency inputs)