YSRCP likely to support NDA's Om Birla in Lok Sabha Speaker election

Amaravati/New Delhi: The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP is likely to support NDA candidate Om Birla in Wednesday's Lok Sabha Speaker election in case its support is needed. The party has four Lok Sabha members.

However, the party's Rajampet MP PV Midhun Reddy said YSRCP is yet to announce its decision and it will be disclosed on Wednesday.

"Officially we will announce our decision tomorrow but our support will be natural for the NDA candidate," YSRCP sources told PTI.

Further, the sources noted that no YSRCP MP was in touch with the INDI alliance, which is also contesting the Speaker election. Another senior YSRCP leader said the party never opposed NDA's decisions earlier and the same trend will be followed now.

In the recent simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, YSRCP contested against the NDA which comprised the TDP, BJP and Janasena. It suffered a humiliating defeat and managed to win four Lok Sabha and 11 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh.

TDP issues whip to party's 16 Lok Sabha MPs to vote for Om Birla

The Telugu Desam Party issued a whip to its 16 Lok Sabha members to vote for NDA's Om Birla in Wednesday's Speaker election. In a three-line whip, TDP's Amalapuram MP Harish Balayogi directed all the MPs to assemble at room number 111–B by 10:30 am on Wednesday.

"Harish Balayogi, whip of the Telugu Desam Party has issued a three-line whip to all TDP Members of Parliament, mandating their presence and vote for the NDA candidate, Om Birla, in the upcoming Speaker election scheduled for June 26, 2024," said a TDP press note.

Om Birla and K Suresh to face off in historic election

For the first time in the history of the Indian Parliament, the post of the speaker is witnessing an election after the ruling government and the Opposition failed to reach a consensus. The Opposition agreed to support the government’s choice of speaker only if their choice of deputy speaker is accepted. When this wasn’t acknowledged, it triggered a historic election for the post of the speaker.

The INDIA bloc leaders of the Opposition have nominated Member of Parliament K Suresh for the speaker’s post. He is an eight-time MP from the Mavelikara Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala. On the other side, the ruling NDA has re-nominated MP Om Birla for the post of speaker. Birla is from Kota in Rajasthan, representing the House for the third term.