New Delhi : The support for a numerically challenged BJP appears to be coming at a price, with its allies demanding key Cabinet/ministerial berths and special status for their respective states. Earlier, there was speculation that they were also demanding the post of the Lok Sabha Speaker. While the demand for ministerial berths is understandable, the big question is why the clamour for the Speaker’s post.
Notably, the TDP with 16 seats and the JD (U) with 12 seats hold the key to the Narendra Modi government’s third term. Normally in a coalition, the party having the most seats (in this case the BJP) keeps the post because of multiple reasons, the most critical being to ensure stability and security of the government.
Generally, the first agenda of the House is to elect the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Prior to that the President swears in a Pro-tem Speaker who is normally the seniormost member of the House who then administers the oath to the newly elected members. Then the elected representatives become the members of Parliament and elect a Speaker from amongst themselves. As per the convention, the post of Deputy Speaker is given to a member of the opposition
For a party with a comfortable majority (like the BJP in the past two tenures), the Speaker’s post has been mostly ceremonial. In fact, the post of the Deputy Speaker was kept vacant.
But as the head of the Lok Sabha, the Speaker is the custodian of the House, maintains order in the House, can adjourn/suspend proceedings in case of absence of decorum etc. Importantly, the Speaker is also the final authority regarding rules and procedures and for a party which may not be having a majority on its own, he or she also holds the key to its stability with final say in issues/disputes related to disqualification and situations like a no-confidence vote against the government.
Experts say the Speaker’s role becomes important when it comes to proving majority on the floor of the House or in case the anti-defection law comes into play.
Take for example the classic case of the fall of BJP’s Atal Behari Vajpayee’s 13-month government in 1999 by just one vote. Giridhar Gamang, who had just become the Congress Chief Minister in Odisha, was allowed to vote in the confidence motion against the government by the Speaker who left the decision to the “conscience” of the voter.
Interestingly, it was to achieve the majority that the BJP-led NDA had offered the post to the TDP following which GMC Balayogi, MP from Amalapuram, was appointed the Speaker.
