Lok Sabha Speaker election: A new chapter will be written in the history of Indian Parliament on Wednesday (June 26) when BJP's Om Birla and Congress' Kodikunnil Suresh will take each other head on in the 18th Lok Sabha Speaker election. The election will be a rare event in the lower house of the Indian parliament as it is the first contest for the post of Speaker since 1976. The polling will take place in Lok Sabha tomorrow after the NDA and INDIA blocs failed to reach a consensus for the post of Deputy Speaker. The Opposition demanded the latter post stating that there has been a convention of the Deputy Speaker office going to the Opposition. After the Opposition's talks with Rajnath Singh, who the BJP entrusted to hold negotiations with the other side, remained inconclusive, election of the Speaker of Lok Sabha became a necessity.
If Om Birla, who chaired the Speaker office in the 17th Lok Sabha from 2019 to 2024, wins the June 26 election, he would become the first person over two decades to get the post for the second consecutive term. Before him, this occurrence has taken place only four times. Congress' MA Ayyangar, GS Dhillon, Balram Jakhar and TDP's GMC Balayogi were the only ones to be re-elected to the post of the Speaker in the subsequent Lok Sabhas.
A look at previous Speakers who continued in the office in the second term
- MA Ayyangar: In 1956, Ayyangar, who was the first Deputy Speaker of the Lower House of the Parliament, was chosen as the Speaker after the demise of Congress leader GV Mavalankar. Mavalankar was a prominent Congress leader who was appointed as the Speaker of the Constituent Assembly, which was responsible for drafting the Indian Constitution. When the Constitution came into force on January 26, 1950, the Constituent Assembly was transformed into the Provisional Parliament of India. GV Mavalankar continued to serve as the Speaker of this Provisional Parliament. He held this position until April 17, 1952, when the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were constituted following India's first general elections. After his death, Ayyangar was chosen as the Speaker. He later went on to win the 1957 general elections and was chosen as the Speaker of the second Lok Sabha as well.
- GS Dhillon: Dhillon was chosen as the Speaker of the fourth Lok Sabha following the resignation of sitting Speaker N Sanjeeva Reddy in 1969. He once again became the Speaker of the fifth Lok Sabha in 1971, and remained in the office till December 1, 1975. He had stepped down from his post during the Emergency.
- Balram Jakhar: Jakhar was the Speaker of the seventh Lok Sabha, followed by the eighth. He holds the distinction of being the only presiding officer to have finished two full terms.
- GMC Balayogi: Balayogi was chosen as the Speaker of the 12th Lok Sabha, and remained on the post for 19 months. The Lok Sabha had lasted then for as many months. He again became the Speaker of the 13th Lok Sabha on October 22, 1999, until his death in a chopper crash on March 3, 2002.
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