His candidature has been supported by all major parties in the house and he is the lone candidate for the post
New Delhi : Veteran parliamentarian M Thambidurai of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazgham is all set to be formally declared as the deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha. His candidature has been supported by all the major parties the house, and he is the lone candidate for the post.
Thambidurai is the leader of the party’s 37 strong group in the Lok Sabha and is not a newcomer to the job having performed it ably from 1985 to 1989.
By convention the deputy speaker’s post is offered by the government to the largest opposition party, but the NDA government has bypassed the Congress that has 44 members and offered the post to the AIADMK which is the second largest party in opposition with 37 members.
This approach of the NDA is quite in sync with its stance of refusing to yield even an inch to the
Congress, and its claim of being recognized as the opposition party in the Lok Sabha is still pending.
Reacting to the AIADMK leader’s choice as the deputy speaker, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said: “ We have nothing against the deputy speaker. We have supported his candidature. But this represents the continuing assault of the government of the day on the essential features of democracy. This has to be seen along with and in continuation of its refusal to acknowledge the status of the Congress as the
opposition party.”
The Modi government has been building bridges with the non-Congress parties in the parliament, and this offer to AIADMK is seen in the same context of its floor management exercises.
