18th Lok Sabha likely to have Deputy Speaker as deliberations on within NDA

New Delhi: The 18th Lok Sabha is likely to have a Deputy Speaker after the post remained vacant in the last term, government sources have indicated.

According to sources, it is likely that the position is given to a NDA partner, most likely Telugu Desam Party.

While as per tradition, the position is accorded to the single-largest Opposition party, the position remained vacant in the 17th Lok Sabha.

In the 16th Lok Sabha, the BJP gave it to its ally AIADMK and party MP Thambi Durai was in the position. 

BJP sources said that a discussion will be held on the position. “We do not want to sound unilateral on this issue, and deliberations with all the NDA allies will be held in due course of time,” a senior BJP leader told DH. 

The leader added that since the Opposition does not have the numbers, it makes it easy for the NDA to keep the post. “On the day of the election of Speaker, if a division of votes had taken place, it would have been clear where the exact numbers are,” the senior Parliamentarian quoted above said. 

Opposition sources said informal discussions among bigger parties on who could be their candidate had started. Sources said Trinamool Congress has conveyed to Congress, DMK, Samajwadi Party and Shiv Sena (UBT) that their 29 Lok Sabha MPs need not be considered for being the candidate, as they are open to a candidate from any other I.N.D.I.A. party. 

TDP sources said that they are not insistent on the post, and the financial aid to Andhra Pradesh is of more importance to them. On the other hand, BJP sources indicated that it is unlikely that JDU will get the position since in the Upper House, their MP Harivansh Singh is the Deputy Chairman. TDP MP Harish Balayogi, son of former Speaker GMC Balayogi is one of those whose name is doing the rounds. 

In the past, under the Congress governments in 2004 and 2009, BJP MPs Charanjit Singh Atwal and Kariya Munda held the position respectively.