7-Time Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahtab Appointed Pro Term Speaker Of Lok Sabha

New Delhi: Bhartruhari Mahtab, the seven-time MP from Odisha’s Cuttack was appointed pro tem Speaker of the Lok Sabha by President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday, informed Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.

The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha will begin on June 24. The newly elected members will take oath/affirmation on June 24-25.

“President is pleased to appoint Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab, Member, Lok Sabha as Speaker Protem under Article 95(1) of the Constitution to perform the duties of Speaker till the election of the Speaker.

President is also pleased to appoint Shri Suresh Kodikunnil, Shri Thalikkottai Rajuthevar Baalu, Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste and Shri Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Members of Lok Sabha under Article 99 of the Constitution to assist Speaker Protem in Oath/Affirmation to newly elected Members of 18th Lok Sabha till election of the Speaker,” Rijiju posted on X.

Mathab won from Cuttack in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls on a BJP ticket after quitting the BJD ahead of the elections. The election of the Speaker is scheduled to take place on June 26.

Mahtab’s appointment as pro-tem Speaker of the Lok Sabha bypassed the convention of giving the temporary post to one from among the senior-most MPs of the Lower House, although this norm is not bound by rule.

The 18th Lok Sabha has two MPs who have been elected for the eighth term this time — Congress’s Kodukunnil Suresh and BJP’s Virendra Kumar. As Virendra was sworn in as a Union minister, it was expected that Suresh would be made the pro-tem Speaker. In the last Lok Sabha, Virendra was made the pro-tem Speaker.