NDA’s Om Birla Wins Lok Sabha Speaker Battle by Voice Vote, To Steer LS for 2nd Term

New Delhi: The BJP MP from Rajasthan’s Kota, Om Birla was elected Speaker to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday by voice vote.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi moved the motion to elect Birla as Speaker. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh seconded the motion. JD(U) member Rajiv Ranjan Singh and HAM(S) member Jitan Ram Manjhi also moved separate motions to elect Om Birla as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

The contest was between the BJP’s Om Birla, a three-time MP and Speaker in the last Lok Sabha, and Congress’s eight-term MP K Suresh.

Pro-tem Speaker B Mahtab made the announcement after the opposition, which had proposed Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh as its candidate, did not press for votes to the motion.

While the Opposition has 232 seats, the NDA has 293 MPs along with the support of the four MPs of YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress. So, Om Birla had ample support to get elected.