"Happened rarely": Former Lok Sabha Secy General PD Thankappan Achary on Speaker's election contest

New Delhi [India], June 25 : As the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc are set to lock horns over the post of Speaker in the Parliament on Wednesday, former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha PD Thankappan Achary said that elections for the key post have taken place earlier, though on rare occasions.
"Election has always taken place, election has to take place but the contest has happened rarely. But it has happened," Achary said, speaking to ANI on Tuesday.
The election for the post of Speaker has taken place at least twice in India's parliamentary history. The first instance was in 1952 when Congress' GV Malvankar contested against CPI's candidate Shankar Shantaram More. The second instance was in 1976 when Congress' BR Bhagat contested against Jagannathrao Joshi from Jan Sangh and was supported by Congress O.
The former Secretary General said that though the person who is appointed Speaker is decided after an agreement between the ruling party and the Opposition, it does not work out every time and an election may be held.
"Normally, there will be some agreement between the ruling party and Opposition. They try to work out a consensus on the Speaker's choice. But this doesn't work out every time. So, sometimes there will be an election. In the past, there were contests. I don't remember when but of course there were. In any case, the Speaker has to be elected by the House. That is what Article 93 says," Achary said.
Explaining how the Speaker is elected, the former Secretary General said, "In the case of the Speaker's election, it is through a motion that is moved in the House. In this particular case (of the 18th Lok Sabha), there will be two motions and the Protem Speaker will admit the motions and both will be moved in the House tomorrow. The first motion that will be taken up will be from the government...I will be taken up and put to the vote of the House like any other motion...There will be 'ayes' and 'nos'."
Speaking about the voting process in detail, Achary said, "If nobody challenges it, then the (pro-tem) Speaker will announce that so and so has been elected by the House. If somebody challenges it, then there will be a vote. And then you will know how many people voted against it and how many people voted for it. That is the end of it. The second motion will not be taken up at all. In the first motion itself, the decision of the House is available. The second motion standing in favour of Mr Suresh will not be taken up. This is the process of voting in the House."
The former Secretary General also remarked that though it has been the convention to give the position of Deputy Speaker to the opposition, there has not been any rule specifically mentioning it.
"The convention has been to give the post (Deputy Speaker) to the opposition but there is no rule or anything about that. This convention can be honoured or adhered to, or it can be broken and a new practice can be started. It is up to the government. The government that has the majority will decide. But the convention is this:. Normally, the government goes by it, they honour the convention and somebody from the opposition becomes the Deputy Speaker. I don't know what is going to happen this time," Achary said.
Efforts by the BJP's top leadership to reach a consensus on the Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha came to naught when the INDIA bloc decided to nominate 8-time MP K Suresh for the post.
His nomination followed the filing of a nomination by the BJP's Kota MP Om Birla for the same position. Birla previously served as the Speaker in the 17th Lok Sabha.
Earlier, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that they had informed Rajnath Singh that the Opposition is prepared to support NDA's Speaker candidate, on the condition that the Deputy Speaker position is given to the opposition.