Om Birla, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Rajasthan's Kota, will be the NDA's nominee for Lok Sabha Speaker's post. As the Lok Sabha session enters Day 2 on Tuesday, BJP will be appointing MP Om Birla as the Speaker of the House. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday named the 56-year-old parliamentarian as the National Democratic Alliance’s candidate and expressed optimism that he would be Lok Sabha’s unanimous choice.
In the meanwhile, Om Birla's wife Amita Birla told ANI that it was a very proud moment for the family. "It is a very proud and a happy moment for us. We are very thankful to the cabinet for choosing him," she said.
Who is Om Birla?
Om Birla was born on November 23, 1962, to Shrikrishna Birla and Late Shakuntala Devi. A Masters in Commerce, Birla has been active in politics since his student days. He was president of the student union in 1979. He is married to Dr. Amita Birla and has two daughters Akansha and Anjali. For 12 years since 1991, Mr. Birla was a key leader in Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha as president at state level first, followed by holding the position of vice-president at the national level.
Om Birla won the Kota Lok Sabha seat for the second time. Birla defeated Congress' Ramnarain Meena by over 2.5 lakh votes from Kota parliamentary seat in the recently concluded general election. Before that, he was three-time Member of Rajasthan Legislative Assembly from Kota South.
10 parties extend support
The nomination of Birla, a two-time MP from Kota, Rajasthan has been supported by ten political parties including Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) will support the candidature of Birla for the post. The election is scheduled to be held tomorrow, reported ANI.
"BJD, Shiv Sena, Akali Dal, National People's Party, Mizo National Front, Lok Janshakti Party, YSRCP, JDU, AIADMK and Apna Dal have given the notice to support Birla's candidature for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker. I have spoken to Congress leaders K Suresh and Gulab Nabi Azad. They have not signed till now but I think they would not oppose Birla's candidature," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi told reporters here.
Controversy
In March 2018, Mahendra Gautam, a former secretary of Om Birla, had sought police protection alleging he was facing threat to life from the Kota MP. Gautam also filed a case against Om Birla accusing him of possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. The case was, however, dismissed by the Rajasthan High Court in April this year.
