Days before the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha, President Droupadi Murmu Thursday appointed seven-term MP from Odisha Bhartruhari Mahtab as the pro-tem Speaker of Lok Sabha — which triggered a political row as the Congress said it was against convention. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the President has appointed Mahtab, as Speaker pro-tem under Article 95(1) of the Constitution to perform the duties of Speaker till election of the Speaker. The Union minister said the President has also appointed Suresh Kodikunnil, Thalikkottai Rajuthevar Baalu, Radha Mohan Singh, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Sudip Bandyopadhyay to assist Mahtab in administering the oath to newly elected Members of 18th Lok Sabha till the election of the Speaker. The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha begins Monday. Mahtab, 66, had quit the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) recently and got a ticket from the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha elections from Cuttack (Odisha) — a constituency he has represented six time for the BJD and now for the seventh time for the BJP. Soon after the appointment of Mahtab, Congress General Secretary in-charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh said that “by convention, the MP who has served the maximum terms is appointed Speaker pro-tem for the first two days when oath is administered to all newly elected MPs”. “The senior-most MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha are Kodikunnil Suresh (INC) and Virendra Kumar (BJP), both of who are now serving their 8th term. The latter is now a Union Minister and hence it was expected that Kodikunnil Suresh would be the Speaker pro-tem. Instead, a seven-term MP, Bhartruhari Mahtab has been appointed Speaker pro-tem,” said Ramesh. Congress General Secretary in-charge of Organisation KC Venugopal said that the appointment was “yet another attempt at destroying Parliamentary norms”. “Bhartruhari Mahtab (a 7-term MP) has been appointed the pro-tem Speaker, superseding Kodikunnil Suresh, who will be entering his eighth term. It is an unquestioned norm that the senior-most MP presides over the proceedings of the House before the Speaker is duly elected. It is a matter of immense pride for our party that K Suresh, a leader from the marginalised section of society,has achieved this feat of being 8-term MP,” said Venogopal. “The government should explain why it chose to overlook K Suresh, what was the factor that disqualified him from this post?” asked Venugopal. Congress MP Manickam Tagore said that the appointment “was his (Rijiju) first mistake” as Parliamentary Affairs Minister. “Seven-term BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab chosen as pro-tem Speaker of Lok Sabha over senior-most Dalit MP Kodikkunnil Suresh of Congress. What are the minister's intentions?” asked Tagore. In a new Lok Sabha, the Speaker is decided by a simple majority. Until the selection, the pro-tem Speaker is chosen to administer some important duties. ‘Pro-tem’ means ‘for the time being’ or ‘temporarily’. The pro-tem Speaker’s primary duty is administering oaths to new MPs.
