Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday, June 25, said the opposition will support the government on the Lok Sabha Speaker's choice if they give the deputy speaker's post to the opposition bloc.
He also said that Defence Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh was yet to get back to them on the opposition's demand for the deputy speaker's post.
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"Today it is written in the newspaper that PM Modi has said that the Opposition should cooperate with the government constructively. Rajnath Singh called Mallikarjun Kharge and he asked him to extend support to the Speaker. The entire Opposition said that we would support the speaker, but the convention is that the Deputy Speaker post should be given to the opposition. Rajnath Singh said that he would call back Mallikarjun Kharge but he has not done that yet...PM Modi is asking for cooperation from Opposition but our leader is getting insulted," said Rahul Gandhi.
Separately, Kota MP Om Birla met Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid indications that he could be fielded for the post of Lok Sabha speaker, a position he held in the previous House.
The Lok Sabha Speaker will be elected on June 26. On June 27, President Murmu is scheduled to address a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament.The NDA, which has 293 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha, enjoys a clear majority, with the opposition INDIA bloc having 234 MPs.