BJP's Om Birla likely to be NDA candidate for LS speaker post

If nominated, Birla is expected to sail through, given the NDA's overwhelming numbers

Om Birla Twitter Om Birla (wearing garland) being felicitated after his win in the recent Lok Sabha elections | Twitter handle of Om Birla

The NDA is expected to nominate Om Birla, the BJP MP from Kota-Bundi, Rajasthan, as its candidate for the post of Lok Sabha speaker, media reports claim.

Birla is expected to file his nomination for the post around noon on Tuesday.

When approached by news agency ANI about his nomination as candidate for the speaker's post, Birla,

who was meeting new BJP working president J.P. Nadda, claimed “he had no information”. However, his wife expressed joy over the news to ANI and thanked the Narendra Modi cabinet for the decision.

Birla, who is 57 years old, had been an MLA from Kota South constituency three times. He won the constituency for the first time in 2003 when the BJP, under Vasundhara Raje, came to power. Birla won from the seat in 2008 and 2013. Birla won his first Lok Sabha election in 2014 from Kota-Bundi. He won from the seat again in 2019, defeating Ram Narain Meena of the Congress by over 2.7 lakh votes.

If nominated, Birla is expected to sail through, given the NDA's overwhelming majority in the Lok Sabha. If the opposition parties nominate a candidate, an election for the post of speaker will be held on Wednesday.

The next speaker will take over from Sumitra Mahajan.

Updates to follow...

TAGS