“Unfortunately a unilateral decision”: TMC on K Suresh’s candidature for LS Speaker

New Delhi [India], June 25 (ANI): As leaders of the INDIA bloc are set to evolve a strategy for the Lok Sabha Speaker’s election, Trinamool Congress Party (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee said on Tuesday that his party was not consulted on fielding Kodikunnil Suresh of the Congress as the INDIA bloc’s joint nominee for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker and termed it a “unilateral decision.”

Speaking to ANI on K Suresh’s candidature for Lok Sabha Speaker, TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee said, “We were not contacted about this, there was no discussion. Unfortunately, this is a unilateral decision.”

Earlier in the day, the INDIA bloc’s Kodikunnil Suresh, along with NDA candidate Om Birla, filed their nominations for the post of Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha on Tuesday, forcing the first election for the post.

Since independence, the Lok Sabha Speaker and deputy Speaker have been elected by consensus between the ruling party and the opposition but this time, after the INDIA bloc’s announcement, the election will take place.

The Lok Sabha Speaker will be elected on June 26. On June 27, President Murmu is scheduled to address a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament.

INDIA bloc candidate K Suresh is currently the longest-serving Lok Sabha MP, as he has remained MP for 29 years.

Suresh was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989, and thereafter, he won consecutively in the 1991, 1996, and 1999 general elections to the Lok Sabha from the Adoor constituency for four straight terms.

Suresh, who won his eighth Lok Sabha election from Mavelikkara (Kerala) in the 2024 general elections, has represented the seat four times in the past.He is the working-president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and was the chief whip of the Congress Parliamentary Party in the 17th Lok Sabha.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took the oath in Lok Sabha as a Member of Parliament (MP) from Raebareli on Tuesday with a copy of the Constitution in his hand.

He was part of the remaining MPs who took their oaths today after a total of 262 newly elected MPs, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took their oaths in the inaugural session of the 18th Lok Sabha.

Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that they had conveyed to Rajnath Singh that the opposition is ready to extend support to the NDA’s Speaker candidate, but the post of Deputy Speaker should be given to the opposition.

Interacting with the media on Tuesday, Rahul said, “We have said to Rajnath Singh that we will support their candidate for Speaker, but the convention is that the post of Deputy Speaker be given to the opposition.”

The NDA, which has 293 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha, enjoys a clear majority, with the opposition INDIA bloc having 234 MPs.