Watch: Rahul Gandhi and PM Modi shake hands in Lok Sabha, escort Om Birla to Speaker Chair

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi shook hands in Parliament, before escorting Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to the chair on June 26

NDA nominee Birla, was elected as the Lok Sabha Speaker today, through a motion moved by PM, which was adopted via voice votes. The House elected Birla with a voice vote after opposition INDIA bloc fielded Congress member K Suresh as their choice for the post.

Pro-tem speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab declared Birla the Speaker of the lower house, and the INDIA bloc did not press for a division vote.

Soon after, Modi, Gandhi, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju went to Birla's seat in the front row of the treasury benches to escort him to the chair where Mahtab welcomed him saying, “It is your chair, please occupy.”

With 293 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the NDA showcased its majority to ensure Om Birla's return to the position he held in the 17th Lok Sabha.

Birla was elected MP after he won from Kota in Rajasthan for the third time in the recently concluded 2024 General Elections. Birla is the second Lok Sabha speaker after Balram Jakhar in 1985 to get two full terms.

Opposition Takes Jibes, Says Voice of the People

“We are confident that by allowing the Opposition to speak. The government has political power but the opposition also represents the voice of India's people. It is very important that the voice of the Opposition is allowed to be represented in this House,” Gandhi said.

"A lot has been done. In 5 years, you have done very good work. But when 150 of my colleagues were suspended, we were all saddened. So, it should be an effort to see that you do not think of suspension in the next 5 years. We are always ready for dialogues," NCP-SCP MP Supriya Sule reminded while congratulating Birla.

Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav also addressed Birla: “We expect that no public representative's voice will be stifled, nor will an action like expulsion take place again. Your control is on the Opposition but it should be on the ruling side too.”

Why Speaker Election in House?

Traditionally, the Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker were elected through consensus between the ruling party and the Opposition. But the stand-off began after NDA refused to allot the Deputy Speaker position to an INDIA bloc candidate in return for backing Birla.

Lok Sabha Speakers have only been selected by election twice before in the Parliament—in 1952 when Congress' GV Malvankar contested against CPI's Shankar Shantaram More and in 1976 when Congress' BR Bhagat contested against Jan Sangh's Jagannathrao Joshi.

(With inputs from Agencies)