10 parties support Om Birla’s nomination as Speaker of Lok Sabha

New Delhi, June 18 (HS): The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate from Rajasthan’s Kota constituency, Om Birla  has been nominated as Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha, getting support from 10 political parties including the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) for his candidature.

Parties such as BJD, Shiv Sena, Akali Dal, National People’s Party (NPP),  Mizo National Front (MNF), Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), YSRCP, Janata Dal United (JDU), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and Apna Dal have offered to support Birla’s candidature for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi while addressing media said that Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and K. Suresh, who  have not yet signed, hopefully would not oppose his candidature.

YSRCP and BJD are part of the NDA’s alliance at the Centre but have extended support to Birla’s candidature.

It is noteworthy that, Om Birla won the Kota  Parliamentary constituency in the recent Lok Sabha elections by defeating Congress’ Ramnarain Meena by a margin of over 2.5 lakh votes.

If elected, Birla would succeed eight-time MP, Sumitra Mahajan as the new  Lok Sabha speaker. Birla has served thrice as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) and  twice as a Member of Parliament (MP).

 The ruling NDA  has 352 Parliamentarians in the Lower House while the  Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alone has 303 parliamentarians so it is unlikely to face any  challenge  for the Speaker’s post.