The ruling NDA alliance is yet to name its candidate for the Lok Sabha speaker post despite the fact that the deadline for filing nominations for is 12 p.m. on Tuesday. Om Birla, the Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha, is the leading candidate for the position, sources said to Zee News Television. Senior cabinet minister Rajnath Singh has been contacting opposition leaders on the government’s behalf in an effort to reach an agreement on the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday that if the government gives the opposition bloc the deputy speaker’s position, the opposition will support the government’s choice. He also said that Defence Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh had yet to respond to the opposition’s request for the post of deputy speaker. Gandhi also accused the BJP of insulting Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge. 

While speaking to reporters outside the Parliament house, Gandhi said, “Today it is written in the newspaper that PM Modi has said that the Opposition should cooperate with the Govt constructively. Rajnath Singh called Mallikarjun Kharge and he asked him to extend support to the Speaker. The entire Opposition said that we would support the Speaker but the convention is that the Deputy Speaker post should be given to the opposition.”

#WATCH | Delhi: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi says “Today it is written in the newspaper that PM Modi has said that the Opposition should cooperate with the Govt constructively. Rajnath Singh called Mallikarjun Kharge and he asked him to extend support to the Speaker. The entire… pic.twitter.com/yR5CzlagEx
— ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2024

“Rajnath Singh said that he would call back Mallikarjun Kharge but he has not done that yet…PM Modi is asking for cooperation from Opposition but our leader is getting insulted…,” he said.