New Delhi, Jun 25: The government which opted for continuity in the Union cabinet and other key appointments could opt for continuity in Lok Sabha also with Om Birla likely to be repeated as Speaker.
Opposition sources confirmed to The Tribune that Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had made calls to some senior leaders including Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge regarding building a consensus on the Speaker’s post.
An opposition source said Om Birla was in active consideration “unless something changes last minute.”
Singh has urged opposition to support government’s Speaker candidate and has said Deputy Speaker post could go to the opposition.
Speaker nominations are scheduled for Tuesday and the election for Wednesday.
Opposition sources said they are unlikely to field candidate for the Speaker’s post after Rajnath Singh reached out to them.
After it became clear that Om Birla could be retained as Lok Sabha Speaker, Shiv Sena UBT leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said the decision of suspending over 130 MPs in the Lok Sabha, first time ever in history, disqualified Mahua Moitra on the basis of a committee that tilted towards the BJP, took a decision on allotting Shiv Sena parliamentary party office to Shinde Sena thereby legitimising the traitors without taking into account the SC case.
“If TDP and JDU support this decision then they very well be prepared for BJP trying to split their parties as well besides of course legitimising unconstitutionality,” she said.
