7 MPs fail to take oath: Who are they and how does it impact Lok Sabha Speaker election?
Om Birla, the Lok Sabha speaker of 17th Lok Sabha, was again picked by the ruling BJP-led NDA for the Lok Sabha Speaker election, while I.N.D.I.A bloc fielded Congress MP K Suresh.
The stage is set for the Lok Sabha Speaker election on Wednesday. With a majority in the Lower House, the ruling Nation Democratic Alliance (NDA) is set win the prestigious election. On the other side, the Opposition's I.N.D.I.A bloc is attempting to display a show of unity with 233 MPs in the Lower House. However, a few MPs are yet to take the oath. The oath of five MPs from the Opposition camp is pending in the House.
Leaders whose oath is pending
- Congress's Shashi Tharoor
- Trinamool Congress's actor-politician Shatrughan Sinha
- TMC's Deepak Adhikari
- TMC leader Nurul Islam
- SP leader Afzhal Ansari
- Two Independent leaders - Jailed Baramulla MP Engineer Rashid and Jailed Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh.
With the absence of five MPs from the Opposition, the tally of I.N.D.I.A block thinned further which means it reduced from 233 to 228 in the Lower House.
On the other side, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which has 293 MPs, is also expected to sail through easily as the required number to win the Lok Sabha Speaker post is 268. Also, YS Jaganmohan Reddy's YSR Congress also announced to support the ruling NDA in the election, which means the NDA's tally will be strengthened further. With the support of YSRCP's four MPs, the tally will improve to 297.