Drawing attention to the fact that no deputy Speaker was elected during the Seventeenth Lok Sabha, he added, "And this concerning precedent continues in the ongoing Eighteenth Lok Sabha.
Published Jun 10, 2025 | 2:07 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 10, 2025 | 2:07 PM
File photo of Lok Sabha. (Screengrab)
Synopsis: Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge urged PM Modi to promptly hold elections for the deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, a post vacant for two consecutive terms—a first in independent India. Citing Article 93, he emphasized the constitutional requirement and democratic tradition.
Rajya Sabha MP and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, on Tuesday, 10 June, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding immediate election for the post of deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha.
Noting that conventionally the deputy Speaker is appointed from among the members of the principal opposition party, the leader said: “From the First to the Sixteenth Lok Sabha, every House has had a deputy Speaker. However, for the first time in independent India’s history, this position has remained vacant for two consecutive Lok Sabha terms.”
Drawing attention to the fact that no deputy Speaker was elected during the Seventeenth Lok Sabha, he added, “And this concerning precedent continues in the ongoing Eighteenth Lok Sabha. This does not augur well for India’s democratic polity and is also in violation of well laid out provisions of the Constitution.”
My letter to PM Shri @narendramodi on the urgency to initiate the process of electing a deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha without any further delay.
From the First to the Sixteenth Lok Sabha, every House has had a Deputy Speaker. By and large, it has been a well-established… pic.twitter.com/WUyIPlTVqx
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) June 10, 2025
Calling for an immediate election without further delay, the letter from Kharge citing Article 93, read, “Article 93 of the Constitution of India mandates the election of both the Speaker and the deputy Speaker of the House of the People. Constitutionally, the deputy Speaker is the second-highest presiding officer of the House after the Speaker.”
Noting that the deputy Speaker has been elected in the second or third session of a newly constituted Lok Sabha, Kharge added, “the procedure for this election mirrors that of the Speaker, with the only distinction being that the date for the Deputy Speaker’s election is fixed by the Speaker, as per Rule 8(1) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.”
“In view of the foregoing and in keeping with the esteemed traditions of the House and the democratic ethos of our Parliament, I request your good self to initiate the process of electing a Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha without any further delay,” the letter further read.
The last deputy Speaker was M Thambi Durai, a member of the AIADMK. He held the position during the 16th Lok Sabha, serving from 2014 to 2019.
In July 2024, during the election of Lok Sabha speaker, INDIA bloc leaders refused to endorse NDA candidate Om Birla for Speaker without being offered the deputy Speaker’s position.
(Edited by Sumavarsha)
