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Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday said BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab has been appointed the Protem Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
On Twitter (formerly Twitter), Rijiju announced Mahtab’s appointment as the pro tem speaker of the lower house and said he will discharge the duties of the presiding officer of the Lok Sabha until the election of the Speaker.
“The President hereby appoints Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab, Member of Lok Sabha, as Pro tem Speaker under Article 95(1) of the Constitution to perform the duties of the Speaker until the election of the Speaker,” Rijiju said in the post.
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister also informed that Lok Sabha members K Suresh, TR Baalu, Radha Mohan Singh, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Sudip Bandopadhyay will assist the Protem Speaker.
He said, “The President is pleased to appoint, under article 99 of the Constitution, Shri Suresh Kodikunnil, Shri Thalikkottai Rajuttewar Baalu, Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste and Shri Sudip Bandopadhyay, Members of Lok Sabha to assist the Pro tem Speaker in administering the oath/affirmation to the newly elected members of the 18th Lok Sabha until the election of the Speaker.”
Who is Bhartruhari Mahtab?
Bhartruhari Mahtab, a prominent figure in Odisha’s political scene, has been a seven-time Lok Sabha MP.
Mahtab, who was earlier a member of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), had joined the BJP ahead of the elections in March this year.
In the year 2017, the current Pro Tem Speaker was awarded the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award for his outstanding performance in the Lok Sabha debates.
What is the role of the Protem Speaker?
The Speaker is the presiding officer of the Lok Sabha and as such has some major duties relating to the day-to-day proceedings of the House.
Since the Speaker has to be elected by a simple majority in the House, till then, a pro tem Speaker is selected to discharge the duties of the Speaker, including swearing-in of MPs.
The word ‘pro-tem’ means ‘for the time being’ or ‘temporarily’. Though the term ‘pro-tem’ is not mentioned in the Constitution, the ‘Handbook on the Functioning of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs’ mentions the ‘appointment and swearing-in of a pro-tem speaker’.
Protest against the appointment of Bhartruhari Mahtab
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, reacting to Bhartruhari Mahtab, said that as per convention, the MP who has served the longest term should be appointed the pro tem speaker for the first two days when all the newly elected MPs are sworn in.
“The most senior MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha are Kodikunnil Suresh (Congress) and Virendra Kumar (BJP), who are now completing their eighth term. The latter is now a Union minister and hence it was expected that Kodikunnil Suresh would be the pro tem Speaker,” he said.
“Instead, seven-time MP Bhartruhari Mahtab has been appointed the pro tem speaker. He was a six-time BJD MP and is now a BJP MP,” Ramesh said.
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Published: June 20, 2024, 08:22 PM IST
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