 "Om Birla elected as Lok Sabha Speaker for second time. Why the position holds importance")
With the numbers in his favour, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Om Birla has won the election for the Speaker’s position, becoming the Speaker of the Lok Sabha for the second time.
He was up against Congress candidate K Suresh, who filed his nomination after the ruling party and Opposition failed to reach a consensus earlier.
After his win, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi escorted Om Birla to Lok Sabha Speaker’s chair, with the PM adding: “Matter of honour that you have been elected to this chair for second time.”
As Birla retains the chair of Lok Sabha, why is the role so important? Let’s understand.
Lok Sabha Speaker election
Article 93 of the Constitution deals with the election of the Lok Sabha Speaker. It states: “The House of the People shall, as soon as may be, choose two members of the House to be respectively Speaker and Deputy Speaker thereof.”
While the Speaker post is vacant, the President appoints a Pro-tem Speaker who administers the oath to newly-elected members of Parliament (MPs). Currently, the latter post is held by the BJP’s Bhartruhari Mahtab, a seven-time MP who was earlier with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
The Lok Sabha Speaker election is being held a day after Birla and Suresh filed their nominations for the position.
The Speaker is elected by a simple majority, with the candidate receiving over half of the votes from the MPs in the House getting the post.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsSignificance of Lok Sabha Speaker role
The Speaker is the head of the Lok Sabha and the lower house’s principal spokesperson.
The leader presides over the Lok Sabha sessions and decides the House’s agenda.
The occupant of the post is tasked with maintaining order and decorum in the lower house. The Speaker not only decides the agenda of parliamentary meetings but also takes a call on motions, including adjournments and no-confidence votes.
It is the Speaker who interprets and applies the rules of the Lok Sabha. The leader decides which questions will be raised in the House.
The Speaker decides whether a Bill is a Money Bill or not. The occupant of the post also oversees the composition of the Lok Sabha committees.
In case of a voting tie, the Speaker can cast their vote to break the deadlock.
While many parliamentary democracies have ensured the independence of the holder of the Speaker post, such is not the case in India. Here, the Speaker is not required to give up their party affiliation after taking over the role. However, they are expected to be non-partisan during the House proceedings.
As Gautam Bhatia, a Delhi-based advocate, wrote for Hindustan Times (HT), the Opposition’s job is to challenge the ruling government in Parliament and “perform the vital function of oversight”.
“Now, the proceedings in the House – which enable the Opposition to perform its functions – are under the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the Speaker…Thus, the ability of the Opposition to do its job effectively requires the Speaker to be non-partisan,” Bhatia said in the piece.
The role of the Speaker has become crucial in recent years amid the rise in defection cases.
The occupant of the post takes a call on the disqualification of a member and is the final authority on defection issues. “By simply sitting on a disqualification petition – or by deciding it in a mala fide way – the Speaker can essentially make the anti-defection law toothless, and facilitate horse-trading,” Bhatia noted.
Thus, the Speaker’s role assumes importance in shielding political parties from ‘horse-trading’ by their rivals.
Can the Speaker be removed?
Yes.
According to Article 94 of the Constitution, the Lok Sabha Speaker can be removed by a resolution passed by a majority of members of the lower house.
Such a resolution can be proposed only if at least 14 days prior notice is given about the intention to move the resolution, noted India Today.
Recent Speakers
Om Birla , who is expected to win the Speaker election, occupied the post in the 17th Lok Sabha. The NDA has a majority in the lower house and could also manage to gain the support of other smaller parties or Independents.
When the BJP first came to power at the Centre in 2014, Sumitra Mahajan was picked as the Lok Sabha Speaker.
In 2009, Congress’ Meira Kumar became the first woman to become Lok Sabha Speaker during the second UPA government.
Before her, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Somnath Chatterjee held the coveted post in 2004.
Former Maharashtra chief minister and Shiv Sena stalwart Manohar Joshi served as Lok Sabha Speaker during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government in 2002-04.
With inputs from agencies
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