Shri Om Birla was elected Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha on 26 June 2024. He was the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate. He is an MP from Kota.
- The motion, moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seconded by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, was adopted by the house through a voice vote.
- The opposition INDIA bloc, which had nominated K. Suresh as its candidate for Speaker, did not press for a division vote.
- It was the fourth contest for the Lok Sabha speaker’s post after fights in 1952, 1967 and 1976.
- Elections to pick the speaker have been held in 1952 when there was a contest between the first Lok Sabha speaker GV Mavalankar and Shankar Shantaram More, then with the Peasants and Workers Party of India; and then in 1976 during the Emergency between Baligram Bhagat and Jagannath Rao.
- Birla will be the second Speaker after Balram Jakhar (1980-89) set to get two full terms. The Lok Sabha’s second speaker MA Ayyangar and Gurdiyal Singh Dhillon got the post twice but the second term of both leaders didn’t last more than a year and a half.
Lok Sabha Speaker powers
- The Lok Sabha Speaker is the constitutional and ceremonial head of the House. Article 93 provides for the election of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker.
- It is the members of the Lok Sabha who elect its presiding officer by a simple majority. The election of the Speaker is usually the first item of business in the newly constituted Lok Sabha.
- The election of the Speaker is usually the first item of business in the newly constituted Lok Sabha.
- The Lok Sabha Speaker is the final authority on the interpretation of the provisions of the Constitution of India, the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Lok Sabha, and the parliamentary precedents within the House.
- The Speaker presides over joint sittings of both houses of Parliament, which are summoned by the President to resolve deadlocks between the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on a particular bill.
- The Speaker has the power to adjourn the House or suspend a meeting in the absence of one-tenth of the total strength of the House, known as the quorum.
- In the event of a tie, where the House is equally divided on a question, the Speaker is entitled to cast a deciding vote, known as the ‘casting vote’.
- The Speaker has the exclusive authority to decide whether a bill is a “money bill” or not, and this decision is final and cannot be challenged.
- The Speaker acts as the ex-officio chairman of the Indian Parliamentary Group (IPG), which serves as a link between the Parliament of India and the various parliaments of the world.
