Initiate process to elect Lok Sabha deputy Speaker: Mallikarjun Kharge urges PM Modi
Kharge wrote that, according to Article 93 of the Constitution, the Lok Sabha may choose two members of the House to be Speaker and Deputy Speaker, and that when either office becomes vacant, another member shall be elected to the post.
The Congress chief further said that traditionally, the Deputy Speaker has been elected in the second or third session of a newly constituted Lok Sabha.
"The procedure for this election mirrors that of the Speaker, with the only distinction being that the date for the Deputy Speaker's election is fixed by the Speaker, as per Rule 8(1) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha," he added.
Kharge also noted that from the first to the sixteenth Lok Sabha, every House has had a deputy speaker. By and large, it has been a well-established convention to appoint the deputy speaker from among the members of the principal opposition party, he said.
"However, for the first time in independent India's history, this position has remained vacant for two consecutive Lok Sabha terms. No Deputy Speaker was elected during the seventeenth Lok Sabha, and this concerning precedent continues in the ongoing eighteenth Lok Sabha," Kharge said.
Keeping the position vacant "does not augur well for India's democratic polity and is also in violation of well-laid-out provisions of the Constitution," the Congress chief said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Indian Express
17 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
BJP gains ground in Assembly polls after Lok Sabha elections
NEW DELHI: In a display of electoral resilience, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has managed to regain significant ground in almost all the states that had Assembly elections after the general election 2024, in which BJP, for the first time since 2014, failed to match the single party majority notch. In Haryana, BJP had won only 5 of the state's 10 Lok Sabha seats (50%) in 2024 with 46.11% of the popular vote share. Bouncing back impressively in the Assembly polls held in October last year, it secured 48 out of 90 seats—over 53% of the assembly—with a lower vote share of 39.94%. The BJP's ability to convert votes efficiently into seats enabled this turnaround despite the drop in popular support. A similar pattern unfolded in Maharashtra, where the BJP-NDA alliance suffered considerable setbacks during the Lok Sabha polls, managing to win only 17 of 48 seats (35.42%), with BJP alone bagging just 9 seats and polling 26.18% of the vote. Yet in the state assembly elections held later, the BJP-led NDA not only expanded its seat share to 132 of 288 (45.83%) but also saw a marginal increase in vote share to 26.77%.
Hindustan Times
20 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
‘Equality and representation go hand in hand': CJI Bhushan R Gavai
Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai on Tuesday said the true strength of Indian democracy lies in its ability to continuously evolve while revisiting and redefining the idea of representation, even 75 years after the Constitution came into force. During his address at the Oxford Union in the United Kingdom, he emphasised that equality and representation are not competing ideals but complementary forces that drive India's constitutional vision forward. CJI Gavai asserted that representation and equality are not opposing ideals. 'Rather, they reinforce each other,' said the judge, as he drew on landmark Indian Supreme Court judgments and the legacy of Dr BR Ambedkar to underscore how the Constitution remains a living document aimed at dismantling entrenched hierarchies. Justice Gavai, the 52nd CJI and only the second dalit to hold the highest judicial office in India, made a compelling case for substantive equality — a model that goes beyond formal equality to correct historical disadvantages. Citing the previous apex court's decisions, he maintained that affirmative action is integral to equality under the Constitution and added that over the decades, the idea of representation has evolved through mechanisms such as reservations in promotions, age and eligibility relaxations, and targeted scholarships. The CJI noted how this idea was extended in rulings such as NALSA Vs Union of India (2014), which recognised the rights of transgender persons and mandated their inclusion through reservations, and the 2020 judgment granting permanent commission to women in the Indian armed forces. 'In several other decisions, the Supreme Court has also emphasised the need for reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities, ensuring their meaningful participation in society and their integration into governance and institutional frameworks,' he said. Speaking just months after Parliament passed a constitutional amendment to reserve seats for women in legislatures, and the apex court upheld subclassification within Scheduled Caste quotas, Justice Gavai framed these developments as evidence of a constitutional project in motion that is responsive to evolving ideas of justice. 'The Constitution of India carries within it the heartbeat of those who were never meant to be compels the State not only to protect rights but to actively uplift, to affirm, to repair,' he asserted . Citing Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's seminal essay 'Can the Subaltern Speak?', the CJI remarked: 'Yes, the subaltern can speak — and they have been speaking all along. The question is no longer whether they can speak, but whether society is truly listening.'
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
21 minutes ago
- Business Standard
US Rep Mikie Sherrill wins New Jersey Democratic primary for governor
US Rep Mikie Sherrill won the Democratic primary in New Jersey's race for governor, emerging from a crowded field of experienced rivals on the strength of her biography as a Navy pilot and former prosecutor who has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump. Sherrill defeated five rivals, including a fellow House member, the mayors of the state's two biggest cities, a former top state legislator and the head of the influential teacher's union. She will face the Republican nominee in the November general election. She becomes the Democrats' standard-bearer at a time when the state party is looking to win the governorship for a third straight term and the national party is looking for leadership and a message that resonates with voters. Her primary campaign, like those of her rivals, focused on finding ways to make the state more affordable, though she shied away during the primary campaign from offering a broad-based plan. She focused instead on more narrow steps such as lowering housing costs by boosting the number of development tax credits so more housing could be built. Sherrill overcame fellow Democratic Rep Josh Gottheimer, Mayors Ras Baraka of Newark and Steven Fulop of Jersey City, former state Senate President Steve Sweeney and New Jersey Education Association head Sean Spiller. Part of her winning coalition included the endorsements of significant county party organisations like those in populous Essex and Middlesex, traditionally backbones of winning campaigns in the Garden State. She also sought to galvanise support among women, a key component of the party's base, winning endorsements from reproductive rights groups like EMILY's List. A win in November would give New Jersey its second female governor after Christine Todd Whitman held the office for two terms as a Republican. The current governor, Democrat Phil Murphy, is prohibited from seeking a third consecutive term because of term limits. He didn't endorse a successor in the primary.
