All the elected MPs will also take oath in the upcoming Lok Sabha session. President Droupadi Murmu will address a joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on June 27 and is likely to outline the new government’s roadmap for the next five years.The session will conclude on July 3.
The Lok Sabha Speaker will be also elected after the parliamentary session begins. There is reportedly a tough bargain underway between the Bharatiya Janata Party and its NDA allies.
The Speaker is generally elected in the first meeting of members of the Lok Sabha. Before the Speaker can be picked, an MP, usually the longest serving, is selected as the pro-tem (for a limited period of time) speaker. The pro-tem speaker presides over the first few sittings of the new house and also presides over the administration of oaths of new MPs and conducts the vote for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
NDA allies – Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP with 16 seats and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) with 12 seats, hold the key to BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) 3.0.
According to media reports, both parties are vying hard for the Lok Sabha Speaker’s position.
The reports further indicate that Speaker’s posts ought to be offered to alliance partners as they cite the example of TDP’s GMC Balayogi who was Speaker when former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee headed BJP-led coalition government in the 1990s.
The Speaker’s role is paramount when it comes to proving majority on the floor of the House or in case the anti-defection law comes into play. When it comes to disputes on the floor of the House, the Speaker’s decision is final. TDP which has been a part of various coalition governments in the past knows the importance of Speaker’s post.
What are the Speaker’s powers?
As the head of the Lok Sabha, the Speaker is the head and principal spokesperson of the house. The Speaker has to maintain order and decorum in the House and can adjourn the proceedings of the House or suspend it in case of an absence of decorum. The Speaker is considered the final interpreter of the provisions of the Constitution of India, the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of Lok Sabha.
The Speaker decides the questions of disqualification of a member, a ground of defection under the provisions of the Tenth Schedule, a power vested in the Speaker by the 52nd Amendment. However, in 1992, the SC ruled the decision of the Speaker is subject to judicial review.
The Speaker’s role is particularly paramount in case of defections where even the Supreme Court’s powers are limited. Last year, allegations were made that Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar was playing a partisan role regarding disqualification petitions, but the Supreme Court gave the speaker the final opportunity to hear and decide the anti-defection proceedings against Eknath Shine and his MLAs who had broken away from the Uddhav Thackeray faction.
When a party wins majority on its own in Lok Sabha, the Speaker’s post is mostly ceremonial. Traditionally, the Speaker’s post goes to the ruling alliance while the Deputy Speaker’s post is held by a member of the Opposition party. However, there is no rule specifying this and in the 17th Lok Sabha, the position of the Deputy Speaker was vacant.