NEW DELHI: The speaker of the Lok Sabha has been always elected by consensus, but on Wednesday, a miffed Indian opposition plans to field a rival candidate to contest Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s handpicked man.

In what is turning at the outset into a polarised lower house even during the initial swearing in of the new MPs, the opposition has accused Mr Modi of violating parliamentary conventions to impose his choice even of the temporary “protem” speaker.

Mr Modi broke the con vention by getting a BJP MP nominated by President Darupadi Murmu as the protem speaker instead of naming the most senior member from the Congress who has won his seat a record eight times.

The protem speaker could play a crucial role in determining how the voting would take place for the speaker’s election when the house meets on Wednesday.

The opposition would have ordinarily accepted the candidature of BJP’s Om Birla, despite his disputed behaviour as the Chair in the previous Lok Sabha. But Mr Modi’s refusal to assign the deputy speaker’s post to an opposition nominee, which convention demands, spurred the opposition to field its own candidate for the speaker’s post. Even if the government’s candidate wins, the election itself could be seen as a setback for the prime minister who leans on allies to shore up a fragile coalition.

There were more fireworks during the swearing-in of the new MPs on Wednesday. Chhatra Pal Singh Gangwar, BJP MP from Bareilly, stirred controversy when he hailed ‘Hindu Rashtra’ after taking the oath as a member of the Lok Sabha.

After taking oath on the second day of the parliament session, the 68-year-old BJP leader said ‘Jai Hindu Rashtra, Jai Bharat’ and Opposition MPs were up in arms. N.K. Premachandran, who represents the Kollam Lok Sabha constituency, was heard saying “How can he say that?”

Other members of the opposition said that the Bareilly MP’s remarks were anti-constitutional. The chair assured the members that the remarks will not go on record.

Earlier, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi hailed Palestine after taking oath as a

Lok Sabha member, triggering an uproar from the treasury benches that led to the Chair striking it off the record. Mr Owaisi hailed his state Telangana, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, the AIMIM’s slogan for Muslims and Palestine. This was objected to by some members of the treasury benches, leading to an uproar after he finished his oath.

Radha Mohan Singh, who was in the Chair at the time, assured the members that anything apart from the oath would not go on record. Pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab returned to the Chair soon, and said that only oath or affirmation is being recorded. “I have said earlier please avoid invoking anything other than oath or affirmation. That is only to be recorded…That should be adhered to,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2024