Congress’s K Suresh frontrunner for Pro Tem Speaker’s post in Lok Sabha

Animesh Singh

New Delhi, June 14

Three seniormost members of the newly convened 18th Lok Sabha are under consideration for the post of Pro Tem Speaker, who will administer oath to elected MPs when the first session of the freshly convened lower House will convene on June 24. These are Congress MP K Suresh and two BJP members namely Radhamohan Singh and Bhartruhari Mahtab.

First session from June 24

The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha is set to be convened from June 24 till July 3, during which the newly elected members will be administered oath and the Speaker will also be chosen. The role of the Pro Tem Speaker is significant during the inaugural session of a newly elected Lok Sabha, as the person holding the post administers oath to new MPs.

However, convention says that the seniormost MP is considered for the Pro Tem Speaker’s post, and taking this into consideration, Congress’ K Suresh, who is an eight-time MP from Kerala’s Mavelikkara, is the frontrunner for the post. If he gets to occupy the post, then an opposition member will get the task of administrating oath of affirmation to all newly elected MPs, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The other two BJP leaders namely Radhamohan Singh and Bhartruhari Mahtab, who are MPs from Purvi Champaran and Cuttack Lok Sabha seats, respectively, have been MPs seven times.

In 2019, when the 17th Lok Sabha had been convened, the BJP MP from Tikamgarh, Virendra Kumar, was the Pro Tem Speaker as he had been a seven-time member. However, he was not the seniormost member, as that honour belonged to another BJP MP from Sultanpur, Maneka Gandhi, who was an eight-time member in the 17th Lok Sabha. It was

only after her unwillingness to become Pro Tem Speaker that Kumar was nominated for the post. Incidentally, Maneka Gandhi lost from Sultanpur during the recently concluded General Election to Samajwadi Party’s Rambhual Nishad.

In the current 18th Lok Sabha, Congress’ K Suresh may get the post if convention is followed. Interestingly though, while both Suresh and BJP’s Radhamohan Singh have been multiple time MPs, they don’t have consecutive terms, whereas Mahtab, who switched from Biju Janata Dal to the BJP just before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, has been a seven-term MP continuously without a break from the 12th to the 18th Lok Sabha.

The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha is set to be convened from June 24 till July 3.