Madhya Pradesh: Election of Deputy Speaker put off as BJP fails to select candidate

Bhopal: Two weeks have passed since the Budget session of the House began, but the election of the Deputy Speaker is yet to be held. This has happened because the BJP has failed to select a candidate for the post.

After forming the government, the party took 11 months to select Girish Gautam as a candidate for the post of Speaker. There is confusion in the party over the selection of a candidate for the post of Deputy Speaker.

The Mahakaushal and Vindhya regions have not been properly represented in the Cabinet. By appointing Gautam as Speaker, the BJP has given importance to the Vindhya region. Now, it is the turn of the Mahakaushal region. However, the party is yet to find a good candidate from the region for that important post.

Besides the region, the BJP is also looking at the caste equations. After selecting a Brahmin candidate for the post of Speaker, the party is searching for a candidate from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities from the Mahakaushal region for the post of Deputy Speaker.

Nandini Marawi and Sandeep Jaiswal are in the race for the post of Deputy Speaker. Legislators from other regions are also pulling out all the stops to get that position. Four ministerial berths are lying vacant. Those who are trying to get ministerial berths want to become Deputy Speaker.

Congress still hopeful

The Congress still hopes that its candidate may get the post of Deputy Speaker. State Congress president Kamal Nath has discussed the issue with Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The party leaders feel that they will make Chouhan agree to give the post of Deputy Speaker to the Opposition. This is the reason why the Congress did not field a candidate against Girish Gautam for the post of Speaker.