Who Will Be Next Lok Sabha Speaker? GM Harish, Daggubati Purandeswari Emerge As Favourites

After forming the new government, the NDA is faced with the task of filling in the Lok Sabha Speaker's post. Among the frontrunners for the chair are Daggubati Purandeswari and GM Harish Balayogi.

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday ended the suspense over who will get what berth in his new government, fresh speculation has now begun over securing the Lok Sabha Speaker's post. While the BJP would definitely want to retain the post, its allies in the NDA will bargain hard to get the post, especially since both 'kingmakers' JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar and TDP president Chandrababu Naidu have settled for 1 Cabinet berth each.

Even INDIA bloc parties, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Aam Aadmi Party have advised the BJP's partners to negotiate with the BJP for the Speaker's post.

What Makes The Lok Sabha Speaker's Post So Important?

The Speaker is a key Constitutional post who has several powers crucial to the functioning of the democracy. The Speaker decides when a question in the Lok Sabha can be asked, or when a debate/discussion can take place.

The Speaker has the power to expunge remarks of MPs as was done in the case of Rahul Gandhi in August 2023.

The Speaker also has the power to disqualify, suspend, and expel members of the house for a number of reasons at his discretion.  In the 2023 Winter Session, 100 MPs were suspended between December 14 and 21 and one Lok Sabha member, Mahua Moitra, was expelled on grounds of ethical misconduct.

The Speaker can pass Bills based on voice votes and even vote to break a 'tie'.

Who Are The Frontrunners For The Lok Sabha Speaker's Post?

While the TDP, which has 16 MPs in Lok Sabha, has settled for 1 Cabinet berth and 1 Minister of State berth, it will want to keep the Speaker's post for itself. Nitish Kumar's JD-U, which got a similar deal in the government, too, will be eyeing the crucial post to prevent the BJP from any attempt to sabotage its balance in the NDA. The BJP, on the other hand, will want to retain the post, which was held by Om Birla for the last five years and Sumitra Mahajan before him. Both of them are BJP leader. However, unlike this year, the BJP did have an absolute majority in the last two terms of the NDA government.

The frontrunners for the Speaker's post this year are BJP's Daggubati Purandeswari and TDP's GM Harish Madhur.

Daggubati Purandeshwari

Daggubati Purandeswari is the BJP's Andhra Pradesh president. The three-time MP's absence in the Modi 3.0 government has given rise to speculations that she may just be chosen to be the Speaker. She first won the Bapatla Lok Sabha seat in 2004 on a Congress ticket and then the Visakhapatnam seat in 2009. In 2014 she switched to the BJP and contested the Rajampet seat, but lost. She secured a re-entry to the Lok Sabha this year with a win on the Rajahmundry seat.

Daggubati Purandeshwari is the daughter of three-time Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh and founder of the Telugu Desam Party NT Rama Rao. A former minister in the Manmohan Singh Cabinet, Daggubati Purandeswari is married to YSRCP leader Daggubati Venkateswara Rao.

GM Harish Balayogi

GM Harish Balayogi is a first-time TDP MP from the Amalapuram constituency. His name as a candidate for the Speaker's post is also doing the rounds. He is the son of former Lok Sabha Speaker Ganti Mohana Chandra Balayogi. His mother, Vijaya Kumari Ganti, too, was a TDP MP in the Lok Sabha.