Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha: A look at power and responsibilities as Opposition vies for the post

livemint.com:

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said on June 25.Now, all eyes are on the post of Deputy Speaker, which the Opposition has been vying for since the beginning. The Lok Sabha has yet to get its deputy speaker position after it became vacant in 2019.Most opposition leaders cited a "parliamentary tradition" to claim the Deputy Speaker's post.

"The tradition has been that if the speaker is appointed from the ruling party, then the deputy speaker is from the opposition...," Congress leader Sachin Pilot was quoted by PTI as saying.Congress MP KL Sharma said it is the tradition of a healthy democracy to give the Deputy Speaker post to the Opposition.Congress MP Pramod Tiwari backed the argument, saying,"...As far as the election is concerned, when the Parliamentary traditions were disregarded, we registered our protest in a democratic manner."Even AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi hoped that the NDA government will "reduce" the burden of newly-elected Speaker Om Birla by having a Deputy Speaker.Union Minister and BJP leader Pralhad Joshi said the NDA was ready to have a discussion about Deputy Speaker's post when time to elect a person for the post arrives, but it is not right to put a precondition.There was no Deputy Speaker in the 17th Lok Sabha. In 2014, AIADMK's M.

Thambidurai was appointed ass the Deputy Speaker. The AIADMK was then the ally of the NDA.Congress leader K Suresh said, "They [BJP] denied [the post to] us in the last two terms of the Lok Sabha, saying that you are not the recognised Opposition.

Now, we are recognised the Opposition. Deputy Speaker post is our right, but they are not ready to give us."In the last two Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and 2019, the BJP emerged as the largest party, comfortably crossing the half-way in