• Source:JND
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The high-stakes election for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker will take place today at 11 am. This would be the first instance in the electoral history of independent India when such election will take place. Till now, the people designated by the ruling party for the speaker post have been unanimously elected. NDA has renominated Om Birla for the key post while Opposition has fielded Congress’ K Suresh against him.

The Speaker is elected by a simple majority based on the number of MPs present. According to sources, seven MPs—five from the Opposition and two Independents—have not taken oath and therefore cannot cast vote.

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Union Minister Rajnath Singh was given the task to reach a consensus with the Opposition parties but the deliberations failed after INDIA bloc demanded Deputy Speaker post. Congress' Rahul Gandhi said they were ready to extend support to BJP’s pick in exchange of Deputy Speaker post but BJP was reluctant to comply with the request. "Rajnath Singh called Mallikarjun Kharge and asked him to extend support... entire Opposition said we will support but convention is Deputy Speaker should be from our side. Rajnath Singh said he would call back... but he has not yet...PM is asking for cooperation but our leader is getting insulted," he said.

It would be very interesting to see how many votes each side manages to receive. Chances of cross voting is also rife as the Trinamool Congress is upset over nomination of Suresh as the INDIA bloc candidate. Meanwhile, the Congress leadership is making efforts to ensure that the opposition appears united.

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Former Congress cief Rahul Gandhi was seen having a long conversation with Trinamool leader and Mamata Banerjee's nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, inside the House on Tuesday afternoon. The tension between the two camps has remained since the time of the election and has only increased after the results.