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Lok Sabha Speaker election: If Opposition insists on division, paper slips will be used, says expert

NDA nominee Om Birla is pitted against INDIA bloc leader and Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh for the coveted post of Lok Sabha Speaker.

ByPTI

Published Jun 25, 2024 | 5:51 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 25, 2024 | 5:51 PM

Om Birla vs Kodikunnil Suresh for Lok Sabha Speaker post

BJP's Om Birla and Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh (X)

If the Opposition insists on a division during the election for the post of Lok Sabha speaker on Wednesday, 25 June votes will be cast on paper slips as the electronic display system cannot be used because the members of the new House are yet to be allotted seats, an expert said.

NDA nominee Om Birla is pitted against INDIA bloc’s Kodikunnil Suresh for the coveted post. Constitution expert and former Lok Sabha secretary general PDT Achary told PTI that the motions which have been moved will be put one by one in the order received. They will be decided, if necessary, by division.

If a motion proposing the name of a Speaker is carried (adopted by the House through a voice vote), the presiding officer will declare that the member has been chosen as the Speaker of the House. He won’t put the later motion to vote, Achary said.

Related: It’s Om Birla vs Kodikunnil Suresh for Lok Sabha Speaker post

He said if the opposition seeks a division of votes, the House staff will distribute slips to the members and the votes will be recorded using this system.

Since division numbers (seats) have not been allocated to the members of the newly-constituted 18th Lok Sabha, the division machine (electronic display system) cannot be used, he said. Since paper slips will be used, the results will take some time, the expert noted.

Both Birla and Suresh filed their nominations as NDA and INDIA bloc candidates, respectively.

Birla served as Speaker in the previous Lok Sabha as well and if he wins he would be the first person to get the post for the second term in 25 years. Before filing his nomination, Birla also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He has returned to the Lok Sabha for the third time from Kota in Rajasthan.

Suresh, an eight-time MP from Kerala, said it is not about winning or losing, but about a convention that the Speaker will be of the ruling party and the deputy Speaker will be of the Opposition.

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