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Journalism of Courage
Having castigated the new BJP-led NDA government for ignoring the claim of the eight-term Lok Sabha MP from the Congress, Kodikunnil Suresh, for the Pro tem Speaker’s position in the newly-elected House while appointing BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab to it, the Opposition INDIA bloc is now likely to reject the role given to Suresh and two other Opposition MPs to assist Mahtab in administering oath to the new members.
Earlier this week, President Droupadi Murmu appointed Mahtab as the Pro tem Speaker to perform the duties of the Chair till the election of the Speaker of the new Lok Sabha. The President also nominated a panel of senior MPs comprising Suresh, DMK MP T R Baalu, Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s Sudip Bandyopadhyay, and BJP leaders Radha Mohan Singh and Faggan Singh Kulaste to assist Mahtab. The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha will get underway on June 24, with the Speaker’s election scheduled for June 26.
The Opposition has slammed the government for appointing Mahtab, a seven-term MP from Odisha’s Cuttack, overlooking Suresh, who is the senior-most MP after being elected in the recent Lok Sabha polls for the eighth term from Kerala’s Mavelikara seat.
The Congress even alleged that Suresh was overlooked by the BJP dispensation as he belongs to the Dalit community. Sources in the Opposition camp said Suresh, Baalu and Bandyopadhyay may not accept the role given to them.
Countering the Opposition’s charge, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju Friday justified Mahtab’s appointment, saying that “as per the Westminster system”, the MP who has the longest-serving uninterrupted tenure is chosen for the position. Mahtab, he said, “is a seven-time Lok Sabha member without any break. At this time, if we leave out the ministers, he is the longest-serving member. They talked about K Suresh ji. His total terms are eight, but in 2004 and 1998 there were breaks. From 2009, he has had four consecutive terms… There is no violation. Only those will feel (that there is violation) who haven’t read the system or its rules.”
The appointment of the Pro tem Speaker has emerged as a bone of contention between the government and the Opposition on the eve of the first session of Parliament after the Lok Sabha polls. The Opposition has already been gearing up to corner the government on a range of issues including the NEET-NET fiasco, the train accident in Bengal, the implementation of the new criminal laws, and the issue of sudden surge of share prices after the exit polls and their meltdown on election results day that saw the BJP stopping well of a simple majority mark.
Alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had a role in the stock market fluctuations, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has already demanded a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into it.
“The three far-reaching (criminal) Bills had been bulldozed through Parliament without proper debate and discussion, and at a time when 146 MPs had been suspended from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Earlier the Bills had been bulldozed through the Standing Committee on Home Affairs without detailed interactions with stakeholders across the country and completely ignoring the written and very detailed dissent notes of a number of MPs belonging to different political parties, including the Indian National Congress, who were members of the Standing Committee,” All India Congress Committee (AICC)’s communication head Jairam Ramesh said Saturday.
“The three new laws are to come into effect from July 1, 2024. The Congress is of the firm opinion that this date should be deferred so as to enable a thorough review and re-examination by the reconstituted Standing Committee on Home Affairs which should have more extensive and meaningful consultations with various legal experts and organisations who have serious concerns on the three laws as they stand – thereafter by the 18th Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as well,” Ramesh said.
