by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group
special report
PM revives talks to induct Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker
YSR Congress in reckoning as BJD declines
Harish Gupta
New Delhi, Feb 24
Intense discussions are being held at the level of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the election of the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
Its now almost ten months when the 17th Lok Sabha came into being in May last year. But the House has been without a Deputy Speaker as PM Modi was unable to find a comfortable political entity whom the post could be entrusted.
If sources are to be believed, the PM has held informal discussions with some of the parties including YSR Congress chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy in this regard. Though no concrete offer was made to the party, but Reddy has come close to the Centre after BJP's ties with N Chandrababu Naidu took a nosedive before the Lok Sabha polls. YSR Congress is more than willing to do business with the BJP and Modi. It has 22 MPs in the Lok Sabha.
The talks through an intermediary were also held with the Telangna Rashtriya Samiti which is in power in the state and not a BJP ally and maintaining distance with the Congress.
In the 16th Lok Sabha, the PM gave the go-ahead to M Thambidurai of the AIADMK to be the Deputy Speaker. The AIADMK was not an ally of the BJP then but not part of the Congress-led UPA either. But the party was routed during the LS polls and AIADMK is not in the contention either.
Modi also toyed with the idea of offering the post to the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) which is neither part of the NDA or the UPA. In fact, the BJP leader and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had made some friendly overtures towards the PM after Modi came back with a thumping majority again. The name of 6 term member of the Lok Sabha Bhatrohari Mahtab of the BJD also did the round for the post of the Deputy Speaker. However, Patnaik refused to take the bait and reported to have declined the offer.
With Shiv Sena walked out of the alliance and Akalis having nobody worth a salt for the post, Modi has been scouting for new parties in the South to strengthen the BJP's political base. However, the BJD has conveyed to the PM that it will continue to support the government on crucial bills but won't take the Deputy Speaker's post. It may now go to YSR Congress or TRS, these sources say.
