Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla urging him that the post of Deputy Speaker be filled in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament. Chowdhury, who is the leader of the Congress party in the lower house, said the post of Deputy Speaker has been lying vacant since the new Lok Sabha was constituted a year ago.
"I would urge upon you that during the Monsoon session itself the Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha must be elected. I hope that this house will be adhering to the constitutional mandate under your guidance," he said in his letter to the Speaker. The Monsoon Session will commence from September 14.
The Congress leader pointed out that the deputy speaker's post is offered to the opposition by convention and there are several examples in this regard. "…According to the constitutional mandate, the seat of the Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha should be filled either by election or consensus as early as may after a new Lok Sabha is constituted," he said.
Chowdhury said Parliament has been set in motion to conduct the Monsoon Session of this year and this is the first time in the history of Parliament that "we are poised to participate in an alien ambience" given the pandemic situation which is once in a century human tragedy. "Already a year has elapsed but still Lok Sabha is deprived of having a Deputy Speaker," the Congress leader noted, adding that Rajya Sabha is preparing to elect its Deputy Chairman.
"Sir, it is an opportune moment to elect the Deputy Speaker of the lower house," Chowdhury said. The BJP is the single-largest party with 303 MPs and the Congress is the second largest with 51 members in the 543-member House.
Birla, a BJP MP, was elected unopposed as the Speaker in June last year. The Congress does not have the post of Leader of Opposition as its strength is less than 10 per cent of the total strength of the House.
In the last Lok Sabha, AIADMK leader M Thambidurai was elected unopposed as the Deputy Speaker. In the absence of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, the house is run by a senior member from among the panel of chairpersons nominated by the Speaker. The process for filling the Deputy Chairman's post in Rajya Sabha is already on and the election would be held on the first day of the Monsoon session on September 14.
Janata Dal (United) member Harivansh has filed his nomination for the post once again. He was the Deputy Chairman till his term expired. He has since been re-elected as a member from Bihar.
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