Modi wins test of strength in Indian Parliament with election of Speaker

MUMBAI - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi passed the first big political test of his third term on June 26 after a ruling party candidate was elected Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament.

Mr Om Birla – who, like Mr Modi, is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member – was Speaker in the last term of the House. He was elected to the position after beating eight-time parliamentarian K. Suresh from the opposition Congress party.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was declared the leader of the opposition late on June 25 by his party, and Mr Modi together congratulated Mr Birla on his election in a rare show of harmony between the two bitter rivals.

This is the first time that Mr Gandhi, 54, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family, will assume a constitutional role in the Parliament – one which gives him the status of a Cabinet minister.

“It is very important that the voice of the opposition is allowed to be represented in this house,” Mr Gandhi said in his speech congratulating Mr Birla.

The Speaker of the Lok Sabha, as the Lower House is known, is usually a lawmaker from the biggest party, and is usually elected unopposed through a consensus between parties.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has 293 lawmakers in the Lower House – 21 more than the required majority of 272.

Mr Modi, who was sworn in as prime minister for a record-equalling third time on June 9, will need the support of regional parties to run his government in his third term, after his party lost its outright majority in Parliament.

The Speaker, who conducts business in the decision-making Lower House and presides over it, is critical to the passage of laws. REUTERS