HYDERABAD, Aug 1: BJP general secretary M Venkaiah Naidu has justified his party's decision to contest the Deputy Speaker's post in the Lok Sabha and blamed the Congress for "breaking the convention"."The convention is that the Speaker's post should go to the ruling party and Deputy Speaker's to opposition. But Congress broke the convention when it fielded a candidate for the Speaker's post", Naidu told reporters here today."If the opposition can contest for Speaker's post we can also join the fray for Deputy Speaker's post", he said. Asked if the BJP was treating Telugu Desam as its coalition partner with G M C Balayogi being elected Speaker, Naidu said the TDP is a friendly party and is extending support."We wanted numbers to win that election and TDP readily accepted to extend support", he added. However, he did not comment on the possibility of TDP turning into a coalition partner.
