18th Lok Sabha Inaugural Session To Witness Fireworks Over Speaker Election, NEET Row

Monday marks the start of the 18th Lok Sabha's first session, during which freshly elected members of parliament, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will take the oath of office. The opposition is likely to corner the BJP-led NDA government on the June 26 Speaker election, debates about alleged paper leaks in NEET-UG and UGC-NET, and a dispute over the pro-tem Speaker's appointment, therefore the first session is expected to be turbulent.

Bhartruhari Mahtab, a legislator from the Bharatiya Janata Party, will take the oath of office as the acting Speaker of the Lok Sabha from President Droupadi Murmu. Mahtab will next ask Leader of the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to swear in as a member of the House. 

The Lok Sabha Speaker will be chosen on June 26. The address of President Droupadi Murmu to the joint session of both houses of Parliament is set for June 27.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 293 seats, the INDIA bloc won 234 seats, and the Congress held 99 seats. This is the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha following the general elections.
In the meantime, a meeting of the newly elected Congress MPs has been arranged for today at 10 a.m. at the CPP office in Parliament.

NEET Row To Shadow The Proceedings

After the alleged irregularities in the medical entrance examination National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate 2024 (NEET-UG), Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi targeted the BJP and said that they stand with the students.

The row over the appointment of BJP leader Bhartruhari Mahtab as the pro-tem Speaker is expected to shadow the proceedings as opposition claimed that Congress Member K Suresh, who is the senior most member was disregarded by the government.

Meanwhile, BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, who has been appointed as the pro-tem Speaker, will administer the oath to newly elected members and oversee the proceedings of the House.

The Congress has reacted sharply to the central government's decision to appoint seven-term BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab as Pro-tem Speaker of Lok Sabha over senior-most Dalit MP Kodikkunnil Suresh of Congress, saying that the appointment by the BJP deviates from the traditional practice of appointing the senior member.

Congress leader K Suresh said that there is an eighth-term MP in the House, but a seventh-term MP has been appointed as pro-tem Speaker.