'Not aspiring for Deputy Speaker post,' says TDP as Opposition steps up heat on Centre 

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), a critical partner in the NDA, has made it clear that it is not interested in the Deputy Speaker's post. So far, there is no clarity yet whether the Lok Sabha will have a Deputy Speaker.

This post was vacant from 2019 to 2024. The Opposition wanted the Deputy Speaker's post ahead of the election of the Speaker. However, there is a buzz that the BJP may offer this post to one of its two crucial allies, Nitish Kumar's JDU and Chandrababu Naidu's TDP.  

"We are not aspiring for the post. We have made it very clear," TDP's national spokesperson Pattabi Ram Kommareddy told The Indian Express. He further said that the BJP has not approached the TDP for this post. "No meeting to this effect, that suggests the TDP should take up the deputy Speaker’s role, has happened so far," Kommareddy was quoted as saying by IE.

On Wednesday, NDA nominee Om Birla was elected as the Lok Sabha Speaker after a motion moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was adopted through voice votes. The Opposition, which had proposed Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh as its candidate, did not press for votes to the motion. 

The Opposition had been pressing for assurance from the government for the Deputy Speaker's post. It was ready to back NDA's Speaker nominee but wanted a commitment from the government on the Deputy Speaker's post. However, the government was non-committal, leading to a contest for the Speaker. 

The Deputy Speaker is an independent office, as per the Constitution, and is not subservient to the Speaker.

The Opposition said the INDIA bloc constituents did not seek a division of votes in the Speaker's election as they wanted to give a "symbolic fight" and maintain a spirit of consensus and cooperation.