Om Birla Elected As Speaker Of 18th Lok Sabha Following Voice Vote - KEY HIGHLIGHTS

As Om Birla elected as Lok Sabha Speaker, PM Modi remarks that it is the House's good fortune to have him occupy the Chair for a second time.

K Suresh vs. Om Birla: High-stakes Speaker election in the Lok Sabha today

Lok Sabha Speaker Elections: It’s a historical day today with the speaker being elected for the Lok Sabha. In contention are BJP's Om Birla, three-time MP from Rajasthan's Kota and the Speaker in the last Lok Sabha and Congress's eight-term MP from Kerala's Mavelikara, K Suresh. Follow LIVE Updates:

- Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav congratulated NDA's Birla on assuming the Lower House's speaker chair.

- After Om Birla was elected as Lok Sabha speaker, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says "Respected Speaker, it is the good fortune of the House that you are occupying this Chair for a second time." 

#WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi says "Respected Speaker, it is the good fortune of the House that you are occupying this Chair for the second time. I congratulate you and the entire House" pic.twitter.com/vKm5b8zv4I — ANI (@ANI) June 26, 2024

- BJP MP Om Birla has been elected as the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha after voice voting. He assumed the speaker's chair for the second consecutive term.

- Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposes the election of BJP MP Om Birla as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi moves motion for the election of BJP MP Om Birla as the Speaker of Lok Sabha. pic.twitter.com/QJxKdmlFlL — ANI (@ANI) June 26, 2024

- Congress president Mallikarjun said that there hasn't been a single discussion between opposition and government. Kharge stated, "Election is going to happen that is why we have filed nomination."

- Congress MP K Suresh claimed that the INDIA bloc was 'compelled' to contest the election as the BJP’s reply was not satisfactory over the issue. 

He added, “We don't want to contest the election against the Speaker, but when the government approached INDIA Alliance, especially the Congress party leadership, we asked about the Deputy Speaker post. At that time, we were not given any assurance. Yesterday, too, they didn't give any assurance by 11.30 am.” Suresh further said that the BJP told us to support the Speaker election first, and then we can talk about the Deputy Speaker. 

- On the Lok Sabha Speaker election, Union Minister Chirag Paswan told the reporters that the coalition is 100% confident about the victory. He added, “We were prepared to talk about the deputy speaker position, but the manner in which the Opposition attempted to impose conditions on Rajnath Singh's meetings with them in front of us was inappropriate."

- Om Birla, the NDA's nominee for Speaker of the Lok Sabha has arrived at Parliament.

#WATCH | Delhi: NDA candidate for the position of the Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla reaches the Parliament pic.twitter.com/9u26wyJIYc — ANI (@ANI) June 26, 2024

- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will move the motion in the Lok Sabha that BJP's Om Birla should be chosen as the speaker of the house. This is the first time in many years that there will be an election for the Lok Sabha Speaker's position.

- The BJP and Congress have issued a three-line whip, instructing all their MPs to be present in the House from 11 a.m. onward, today (June 26). 

- The number of MPs in attendance and participating will be considered when casting votes for the Speaker position. The Speaker will be chosen by the majority. With 293 members in the 543-member Lok Sabha, the opposition INDIA group has 234 MPs, while the NDA has a decisive majority of 293 MPs. 

- While talking to the media on the Lok Sabha Speaker election, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told ANI, "We all are colleagues in the House and we have to work together. When we give an offer to them (Opposition), we expect that the offer is accepted gracefully but that has not been done. We will appeal to them again. There is a simple thing to elect the Speaker unanimously."

- 535 MPs Will Vote Today: Out of a total strength of 543 Member of Parliaments in the 18th Lok Sabha, 535 MPs will vote today.

- Shashi Tharoor, Shatrughan Sinha To Sit Out Voting: Prominent leaders such as Congress's Shashi Tharoor and Trinamool Congress's actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha. Additionally, there are others like Deepak Adhikari and Nurul Islam from Trinamool Congress, Afzhal Ansari from the Samajwadi Party, and two Independents. The reasons for the delayed oath-taking of these leaders remain undisclosed. 

- Congress's Kodikunnil Suresh will compete against the BJP's Om Birla for the position of Speaker in the 18th Lok Sabha. The need for a vote arose due to the inability of the Centre and the opposition to agree on a candidate. This marks the first contested election for the Speaker's role since 1952.

- Om Birla, a three-time MP from Kota, Rajasthan, and the former Speaker of the previous Lok Sabha, is the BJP's nominee. Meanwhile, Kodikunnil Suresh, an eight-term MP from Mavelikara, Kerala, has been chosen by the Congress for the position.