BJP MP Virendra Kumar to be protem speaker of 17th Lok Sabha

New Delhi,11 June(HS): Dr Virendra Kumar, seven-time Member of Parliament (MP) from Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh is set to be elected as the protem speaker of the newly elected 17th Lok Sabha which would hold its first sitting on 17 June.

On the first two days, the newly elected MPs’ in the second term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi would  be administered oath by  Kumar, the new protem speaker.

Kumar, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader belonging to Scheduled caste (SC) community  was  minister of state in Ministry for Women and Child Development as well as minister of state ( MoS) in Minority Affairs Ministry in the previous term of Narendra Modi led government.

 According to reports, Kumar’s name was finalized by the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry and  he would be administered oath as protem speaker by President Ram Nath Kovind.

 This development comes amid media reports of eight-time BJP MP Maneka Gandhi’s name which was touted to be the front runner as the protem speaker has been kept out from the new cabinet of ministers in the second term of Modi government.

Gandhi had previously served as the Women and Child Development Minister in the NDA-I government.