TMC pushes for Samajwadi Party's Ayodhya MP Awadesh Prasad for Deputy Speaker's post: Sources

Mamata Banerjee's TMC has urged the Centre to make Samajwadi Party's Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasad Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, sources told India Today on Sunday. The opposition has been demanding the Deputy Speaker's post, but there is no commitment yet from the Centre. The opposition bloc had contested for the Speaker's post after the NDA government did not commit to giving the Deputy Speaker's post to the opposition.

Awadhesh Prasad stunned the BJP by winning Lok Sabha elections from the Faizabad constituency, which covers Ayodhya. The saffron party was confident of winning elections from the city due to the construction of the Ram Temple. Prasad defeated BJP's Lallu Singh by nearly 55,000 votes. 
 
With the SP leader's name for the post, the opposition has fielded a candidate with strong political and symbolic capability. Prasad, a Dalit who won polls from Faizabad, was proposed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the sources said. 

PTI, earlier this week, reported the ruling NDA was open to the idea of having a Deputy Speaker in the Lok Sabha. Sources told the news agency that the NDA had not rejected the opposition's claim on the post but criticised its insistence that its nominee should be given the position, saying such a precondition could not be considered during the speaker's election.

The government's efforts to reach a consensus on Om Birla's choice as the speaker fell through as the opposition INDIA bloc insisted that it should be promised the position of his deputy as per "convention". The NDA's brains trust had said that the opposition's demand can be considered when the election for the deputy speaker takes place but it should not impose any precondition.

The opposition fielded Congress leader K Suresh as its candidate, with Birla getting elected by a voice vote. Though different governments in the past have allowed the opposition to have its nominee as the deputy speaker, the BJP has noted that it has not always been the case.

The Congress has claimed that as the recognised opposition party, a status it did not enjoy during the previous two Lok Sabha, its member should get the position in the Lower House.

(With inputs from Jayanta Ghosal)