PM Modi to move motion to elect Om Birla as Lok Sabha Speaker; Rajnath Singh, other ministers to support

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will move the motion in the lower house to choose Om Birla as Lok Sabha Speaker on Wednesday. The Lok Sabha Speaker election is scheduled at 11 am today. Om Birla is contesting against the INDIA bloc pick, Congress leader Kodikunnil Suresh.

During the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha, PM Modi will move the motion that Om Birla, a member of the Lok Sabha, be chosen as the Speaker of the House. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will second the motion.

In addition, Union Ministers Lallan Singh, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Amit Shah, Chirag Paswan, HD Kumaraswamy, and Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu will also move the motion to choose Birla as the Speaker.

On the other hand, the opposition alliance has fielded K Suresh against Om Birla for the post. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Ganpat Sawant, Samajwadi Party MP Anand Bhadauria, and NCP (SCP) MP Supriya Sule will move the motion for their candidate.

Traditionally, the Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker were chosen through a mutual agreement between the ruling party and the opposition. In this contest, Om Birla, a three-term MP from Kota in Rajasthan, will face off against Kodikunnil Suresh, an eight-term parliamentarian from Kerala's Mavelikara and the longest-serving member in the 18th Lok Sabha.

The ruling BJP and the main opposition Congress Party have issued three-line whips to their members, mandating their presence in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday from 11 am until the end of the proceedings.

Given the NDA's substantial majority of 297 MPs (including allies and supported parties), Om Birla's election as the Speaker appears highly probable unless there are unexpected defections or instances of cross-voting where members from the NDA coalition vote against their candidate.

The Trinamool Congress, led by Mamata Banerjee, has voiced dissatisfaction with the Congress's choice of K Suresh as their nominee for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker, stating they were not consulted. TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee expressed that the decision to nominate K Suresh was made unilaterally without any prior discussion or consultation with them.

(With inputs from agencies)