by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
Jual Oram, Maneka, Radha Mohan, Ahluwalia in race for Speaker's post
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, June 4
BJP veterans Jual Oram (Odisha), S S Ahluwalia (West Bengal), Maneka Gandhi (UP), Radha Mohan Singh (Bihar) are in the reckoning for the post of the Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha.
Though Maneka Gandhi is the senior-most member in the Lok Sabha with 8thterm, S S Ahluwalia is equally senior if the tenures in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are combined. Radha Mohan Singh is also a senior BJP leader from Bihar and so is Jual Oram. All of them were ministers in the Modi government and didn't make the cut in the new dispensation for different reasons.
It can be revealed that another 8th term member of the Lok Sabha Santosh Gangwar was sounded for the post by the BJP chief Amit Shah. But the Bareli MP who was also a Minister of State (IC) Labour politely declined citing political reasons. He was lucky not to be dropped.
The prospects of Maneka Gandhi do not seen bright considering the fact that she did create avoidable controversies and spoke out of the tune. However, it may politically be beneficial in the Lok Sabha when Sonia and Rahul will have to bend before her.
BJP wants to win Odisha and West Bengal. But Assembly polls are due in 2021 in West Bengal while in Odisha it will be in 2024. Secondly,
Jual Oram is a tribal leader of eminence and his dropping was a bit of surprise. The last tribal to occupy the Speaker’s Chair was P Sangma during the NDA reign. The BJP has high stakes in tribal regions of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and the North East.
Ahluwalia is an expert on Constitutional affairs and has tremendous legal acumen. If Oram is soft-spoken, Ahluwalia is combative and well-versed in norms and conventions to run the House effectively. That he hails from a minority community is an added advantage for him and won a seat from West Bengal which was very tough.
But no one knows who will occupy the coveted post. It can be dark horse too. The Speaker's poll will be held on June 19.
ends
