Amid goading by Opposition, JD(U) backs BJP pick, TDP bats for ‘NDA face’
In the wake of the Opposition INDIA bloc's constituents, the Congress and the AAP, suggesting that the JD(U) and the TDP, key allies of the ruling BJP-led NDA, must push for their nominee as the new Lok Sabha Speaker, the JD(U) said Saturday it will support any candidate chosen by the BJP for this crucial post.
“What Congress is doing is diversion. It is uncalled for. It is a convention that the largest party in the ruling coalition takes a call on the Speaker. Whatever decision the BJP takes, we will support it,” JD(U) national general secretary K C Tyagi told The Indian Express.
On its part, the TDP said the candidate to be put up for the Speaker’s position by the ruling coalition will be “an NDA candidate”. “The NDA partners will sit together and decide who our candidate for the Speaker is going to be. Once a consensus is reached, we will field that candidate and all partners, including the TDP, will support the candidate,” TDP national spokesperson Pattabhi Ram Kommareddy told The Indian Express.
Kommareddy refrained from making any comments on whether the TDP is rooting for its nominee to become the Lok Sabha Speaker. A TDP source, however, told The Indian Express the party has not “ruled out this option”. “Like all partners we have a say in selecting the candidate for the Speaker's post,” the source said.
The support of TDP and the JD(U) is critical for the NDA government since the BJP, with 240 seats, fell short of the majority mark of 272 in the recent Lok Sabha elections. While the TDP bagged 16 seats, the JD(U) won 12 seats.
With the TDP not ruling out the option to stake its claim over the Speaker's chair, the JD(U)’s stance boosts the BJP’s position. BJP sources have maintained that the party wants to keep the Speaker’s post for its nominee and that it has already sounded out its allies about it.
Incidentally, the BJP-led NDA government had lost the trust vote in 1999, when TDP MP GMC Balayogi was the Speaker.
Late Balayogi had served as the Speaker during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government in 1998-1999, when the NDA was a coalition of 19 parties. Thirteen months into the government, then J Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK withdrew support to the Vajpayee government, forcing it to take the floor test. It lost the test by one vote, with Balayogi as Speaker allowing then Congress Chief Minister of Odisha Giridhar Gamang to vote as he had retained his MP seat despite taking the CM’s chair a month ago.
“Those invoking 1998-1999 must understand that in that government there were a dozen parties. That is not the case here,” Tyagi said.
The election to the Speaker’s post will take place on June 26, two days after the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha gets underway. A Pro-tem Speaker will preside over the proceedings of the House until a new Speaker is elected.
Senior Congress leader and former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot alleged last Wednesday that if the BJP keeps the Speaker’s post, its alliance partners TDP and JD(U) should be prepared to witness “horse-trading of their MPs”.
“Not just TDP and JD(U), but the people of the entire country are eagerly watching the election to the post of the Lok Sabha Speaker. If BJP does not have the intention to do anything undemocratic in the future, it should give the Speaker’s post to one of its allies.... if the BJP keeps the post of the Lok Sabha Speaker with itself, the TDP and JD(U) should be ready to see horse-trading of their MPs,” Gehlot had said in a post on X.
He also flagged how the Vajpayee government had chosen the Speaker from the ranks of its coalition partners.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh has also made similar claims, asking the TDP and the JD(U) to get their own nominee elected as the new Speaker to prevent any possibility of a split in their parties.
For the latest news from across India, Political updates, Explainers, Sports News, Opinion, Entertainment Updates and more Top News, visit Indian Express. Subscribe to our award-winning Newsletter Download our App here Android & iOS