18th Lok Sabha begins
The 18th Lok Sabha began today, with about 280 newly-elected MPs taking oaths. This is the first time that a new Lok Sabha has begun functioning from the new Parliament House.
The rest of the MPs, numbering 260, will take oaths tomorrow.
Bhartruhari Mahtab of the BJP (till last March, of the Biju Janata Dal) being appointed the pro-tem speaker has created a controversy as the convention is that the post, which is a temporary one, goes to the seniormost MP.
In the current Lok Sabha, that person is the Congress’s K Suresh, being an eight-time MP. The BJP’s argument, according to Congress’s Jairam Ramesh, is that Mahtab has become an MP for the seventh consecutive time.
If that is the logic, Ramesh stated in a post on X, the BJP’s RC Jigajinagi has also become an MP for the seventh consecutive time. So why not him? Ramesh asks speculatively: Is it because Jigajinagi is a Dalit? (He got elected from the SC-reserved seat of Bijapur in Karnataka).
The new speakers is expected to be elected on Wednesday, June 26.Being elected by a simple majority, the NDA candidate will get the nod.
As for the major issues, the NEET and NET examination fiascos by the National Testing Agency are expected to be taken up in earnest by the opposition.
