Battle lines drawn for Speaker's post

It is NDA's Om Birla versus INDIA bloc's K Suresh; Centre rejects demand for Dy Speaker

- Gaurav Vivek

The Lok Sabha is heading for its first-ever election for the post of Speaker as National Democratic Alliance candidate Om Birla, who was the Speaker in the 17th Lok Sabha, and INDIA bloc's Kodikunnil Suresh filed their nominations for the post on Tuesday.

In the previous 17 Lok Sabhas, the Speaker was always chosen through consensus between the ruling party and the Opposition. However, this time a contest appears to be on the cards on Wednesday, when the election would take place, since the NDA has not yet given a positive response to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's demand for giving the Opposition the Deputy Speaker's post in return for its support for the post of Speaker.

For Om Birla, 10 nominations were filed backing his candidature, including those by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and J.P Nadda besides MPs from BJP's allies, including the Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal (United), Janata Dal (Secular) and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram-Vilas).

On behalf of the INDIA bloc candidate and eight-term Congress MP K. Suresh, three nominations were filed.