The BJP MP from Rajasthan’s Kota, Om Birla, is set to be the next Speaker in the Lok Sabha, the opposition has accepted his candidature, sources said.
Though there has been no formal announcement yet, the party’s choice was confirmed. The two-time lawmaker is considered close to party chief and Home Minister Amit Shah.
“It is a very proud and a happy moment for us. We are very thankful to the cabinet for choosing him,” Amita Birla, the wife of Om Birla, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Birla, however, was cautious. “I have no information, I had just went to meet the Working President as a ‘karyakarta’,” he told ANI while leaving the house of JP Nadda, who was named the party’s Working President on Monday night.
The 56-year-old has been associated with the BJP youth wing and has also been in charge of the organisational revamp in Rajasthan in 2018.
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The appointment of the NDA candidate is certain in view of the overwhelming numbers of the alliance in the Lok Sabha. The BJP alone has 303 members in the 542-seat house. While the BJP-led NDA has the strength of 353 members.
The 17th Lok Sabha was convened on Monday and several lawmakers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took the oath. Besides that, BJP MP Virendra Kumar took oath as the pro tem Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
The first session of Lok Sabha will provide 30 sittings spread over 40 days (June 17 – July 26) in Lok Sabha and 27 sittings spread over 37 days sittings in the Rajya Sabha.