Parliamentary Affairs Minister Criticizes Congress For Raising Objections On Selection Of Protem Speaker

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju yesterday criticized Congress for raising objections on the selection of Protem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab. Briefing media in New Delhi, Mr. Rijiju said, Congress has created an issue about the pro-tem speaker. He said, the post of protem speaker is temporary and the role is only limited till the election of the new speaker.

Mr. Rijiju said, Bhartruhari Mahtab has been a member of the Lok Sabha for seven consecutive terms without a break and at this time he is the longest-serving member. He said, Congress flagged the name of Suresh Kodaikanal but his total term is eight and break happened in year 1998 and 2004. He said, the government



has followed the tradition in selection of Protem Speaker.

Earlier, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has objected to the government’s decision to appoint Bhartruhari Mahtab as a Protem Speaker. He said, the MP who has served the maximum terms is appointed Speaker Protem for the first two days. He said, the senior most MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha are Kodikunnil Suresh of Congress and Virendra Kumar of BJP. He said, Virendra Kumar is now a Union Minister and hence it was expected that Kodikunnil Suresh would be the Speaker Protem. He said that instead, a seven term MP, Bhartruhari Mahtab has been appointed Speaker Protem.