Sticking to the message of continuity in the 18th Lok Sabha where it missed the majority mark on its own with 240 seats, the BJP under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has zeroed in on Om Birla as the next Speaker of the Lower House. Birla met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, a day before the election for the Lok Sabha Speaker. With the Opposition fielding K Suresh, a Dalit leader of the Congress party who has been an eight-time MP, there will be a contest for the post for the first time since Independence. The Opposition’s decision came soon after Rahul Gandhi told reporters Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had conveyed to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh – when Singh called up the Congress leader on Monday – that the Opposition would support the Government on the post of Speaker if the Government accepts an Opposition leader as Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, as per convention. However, Gandhi added Kharge had not heard back from the Government on this and it seemed Prime Minister Modi did not want constructive cooperation. However, with the numbers in favour of the NDA, Birla is all set to be Speaker. Before him, only three people have been Speakers of the Lok Sabha for more than one term. M A Iyengar held the post for six years and 22 days, Gurdial Singh Dhillon for six years and 110 days, and Balram Jakhar for nine years and 329 days. Birla, who is a BJP MP from Kota in Rajasthan, became a lawmaker for the first time in 2014. He was unanimously elected as Lok Sabha Speaker on June 19, 2019, during his second term in the Lower House. As Speaker, Birla led a House that had an absolute majority of the Bharatiya Janata Party. During his tenure, the Lok Sabha saw the highest number of suspensions of MPs in a single session ever, with 100 MPs being suspended from the Lower House between December 14 and 21, 2023. As a member of Parliament from 2014 to 2019, he asked more than 500 questions in the Lok Sabha. In his third term in the Lok Sabha now, Birla was elected as an MLA three times in Rajasthan in 2003, 2008 and 2013. Born in 1962, Birla took to public life early, becoming the president of the students’ union at Government Senior Secondary School, Gumanpura, in 1979. From 1987 to 1991, Birla was the Kota district president of the BJP’s youth wing, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM). From 1993 to 1997, he was the Rajasthan president of BJYM. He was involved in political movements for the setting up of an IIT in Kota and for the provision of Chambal water to the Bundi district in Rajasthan. He was also involved in relief work in Bhuj in Gujarat in 2001 when it was hit by a major earthquake. Birla also served as director of Coal India, chairman of the Rajasthan State Cooperative Consumer Association, and vice president of the National Cooperative Consumer Association. He also took part in the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation. Birla studied at Commerce College, Kota, and Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer, and has an MCom degree. He married Amita Birla in 1991 and has two daughters.
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