Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday claimed that his party was not consulted by the Congress before nominating MP K Suresh as a candidate for the Lok Sabha Speaker's position, hinting at a possible rift in the I.N.D.I.A bloc. He said that it was Congress's "unilateral decision".
"Congress did not discuss the Speaker issue and made a unilateral decision," the TMC MP said, commenting on the election of Suresh as opposition's candidate.
Earlier today, the opposition INDIA bloc fielded Congress MP K Suresh against BJP's candidate OM Birla for the Speaker's position.
Although the BJP-led NDA tried to bring the INDIA bloc leaders to consensus on Birla as the Speaker, the opposition alliance refused. Instead, they accused the ruling NDA of not following the convention of handing over the position of the Deputy Speaker to a member of the Opposition.
ALSO READ: Rahul Gandhi Takes Oath As Member Of 18th Lok Sabha Holding Copy Of Constitution In Hand: WATCH
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also met DMK's TR Baalu and Congress leader KC Venugopal in the morning today, seeking to bring consensus on the Speaker's post. However, they refused to endorse Birla as the Speaker without being offered the Deputy Speaker's position and walked out of his office.
Meanwhile, Union Ministers Lalan Singh and Piyush Goyal also accused the grand old party of putting up conditions. They also said that the ruling alliance was willing to hold a discussion for the opposition's demand, when Deputy Speaker's election takes place.
The election for the post of Speaker is scheduled to take place at 11:00 AM on June 26.
The NDA is likely to not face any difficulty in ensuring that its nominated candidate Om Birla is elected as the Speaker since it holds a majority in the Lower House. The BJP-led NDA has 293 members in the Lok Sabha while the I.N.D.I.A block has 233.
BJP's candidate Birla requires 271 votes, half of 542 (Wayanad seat vacant), to win the Speaker election.