TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee Criticizes Unilateral Decision on Lok Sabha Speaker Nominee
New Delhi, India – As leaders of the INDIA bloc prepare for the Lok Sabha Speaker’s election, Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee expressed his discontent on Tuesday, stating that his party was not consulted about fielding Kodikunnil Suresh of the Congress as the joint nominee. Banerjee termed it a “unilateral decision.”
Speaking about K Suresh’s candidature, Banerjee said, “We were not contacted about this, there was no discussion. Unfortunately, this is a unilateral decision.”
Earlier in the day, the INDIA bloc’s Kodikunnil Suresh and NDA candidate Om Birla filed their nominations for the post of Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha, leading to the first election for the position. Traditionally, the Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker have been elected by consensus between the ruling party and the opposition, but this time, an election will take place following the INDIA bloc’s announcement.
The Lok Sabha Speaker will be elected on June 26. On June 27, President Murmu is scheduled to address a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament.
INDIA bloc candidate K Suresh is currently the longest-serving Lok Sabha MP, having served for 29 years. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989 and has won consecutively in the 1991, 1996, and 1999 general elections from the Adoor constituency. Suresh won his eighth Lok Sabha election from Mavelikkara (Kerala) in the 2024 general elections and has represented the seat four times in the past. He is the working-president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and was the chief whip of the Congress Parliamentary Party in the 17th Lok Sabha.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took the oath in Lok Sabha as a Member of Parliament (MP) from Raebareli on Tuesday with a copy of the Constitution in his hand. He was among the remaining MPs who took their oaths after a total of 262 newly elected MPs, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took their oaths in the inaugural session of the 18th Lok Sabha.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi mentioned that they had conveyed to Rajnath Singh that the opposition is ready to support the NDA’s Speaker candidate, but the post of Deputy Speaker should be given to the opposition. “We have said to Rajnath Singh that we will support their candidate for Speaker, but the convention is that the post of Deputy Speaker be given to the opposition,” Rahul said.
The NDA, with 293 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha, holds a clear majority, while the opposition INDIA bloc has 234 MPs.
