BJP to decide dy speaker nominee today

The BJP parliamentary board is likely to take a decision on its nominee for the post of Lok Sabha deputy speaker on Tuesday.

Earlier, the BJP was considering Indore MP Sumitra Mahajan for the post. But the Congress threw a spanner by choosing Meira Kumar, a Dalit, as Lok Sabha Speaker,  With a woman already in the Speaker’s chair, Mahajan’s claim weakened. The names of Karia Munda and Sripad Naik are now doing the rounds.

Choosing a candidate for the deputy speaker’s post is not the only worry for the party which is grappling to sort out its line of succession. A decision in this regard has been postponed for a while with LK Advani still leading the party.

The BJP is expected to name Sushma Swaraj as deputy leader of the opposition for Lok Sabha. The party also has to choose its leader in Rajya Sabha, for which Arun Jaitley is the prime choice. That would mean a Brahmin heading the party in both Houses and nominating Mahajan as deputy speaker would mean Brahmins in all posts. The party is hence in a spot. A hunt is on for a suitable candidate, perhaps from the backward community.