Bhartruhari Mahtab appointed Lok Sabha pro-tem speaker
Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) MP from Odisha Bhartruhari Mahtab has been appointed the pro-tem speaker of the Lok Sabha by President Droupadi Murmu. Mahtab is a senior lawmaker who won his seventh election this cycle.
“President is pleased to appoint Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab, Member, Lok Sabha as Speaker Protem under Article 95(1) of the Constitution to perform the duties of Speaker till the election of the Speaker,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju posted on his X handle.
Mahtab is set to take the oath administered by President Murmu before assuming the duties of pro-tem speaker. Some analysts suggest that Mahtab’s selection by the BJP is linked to the party’s electoral success in Odisha, where it recently formed the state government for the first time.
Mahtab was with the Biju Janata Dal for 25 years, before switching over to the BJP in March, just before the general election. Notably, the BJD was in power for 24 continuous years till it lost the 2024 assembly election.
President has also appointed Shri Suresh Kodikunnil, Shri Thalikkottai Rajuthevar Baalu, Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste and Shri Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Members of Lok Sabha under Article 99 of the Constitution, to assist the Speaker Pro Tem in administering the Oath/Affirmation to newly elected Members of the 18th Lok Sabha,” announced Rijiju on X.
As pro-tem speaker, Mahtab’s primary responsibility will be to oversee the oath-taking process for all tha MPs. Without taking the oath, no MP is permitted to participate in any activity within the House.
Two major factors emerging from his appointment, setting aside the fact that Mahtab is a non-controversial parliamentarian, are:
(1) By convention, the senior-most MP is appointed for the position of pro-tem speaker, who happens to be Kondikunal Suresh of the Congress, who is serving his eight-term, and
(2) Is this another snub to the two major alliance partners of the NDA, the JD(U) and TDP, and a message to them for the future that the BJP is going to latch on to the speaker’s position?
