Appointment of next LS speaker does not lie with me: Om Birla

New Delhi: Clearing an elementary Civics book question, as to who would be the next Lok Sabha Speaker, the erstwhile occupant of the post in the 17th lower house, Om Birla on Sunday said, that responsibility does not lie with him.
As the issues of the appointment of the speaker and his deputy to the 18 Lok Sabha takes centrestage in the national political discourse, Birla said all these decisions are taken by the members of political parties elected to the House.
“All these decisions are taken by political parties. These decisions cannot be taken by me,” he told the reporter at his residence in New Delhi.
Birla’s remarks came after the opposition INDIA bloc insisted that the Lok Sabha Speaker’s post must be allocated to the ‘kingmakers’ of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) — the Janata Dal (United) and the Telugu Desam Party.
Birla was elected as the Speaker during Modi government’s second term in June 2019, following a motion for election moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls, Birla was fielded from Kota by the BJP, and he bagged the Parliamentary seat with a margin of over 41,139 votes.
Regarding the ‘Prerna Sthal’ in the Parliament House complex, Birla said that, “Whatever construction or change happens inside the Parliament, is the responsibility of the Speaker and I have had several discussions regarding these issues.”
“Be it Mahatma Gandhi, Baba Saheb, Maharana Pratap or Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, we have brought all the statues in one place so that the coming generation can get information about their struggles and their contribution in taking India to the highest level,” he added.
“Lakhs of people come to see the Parliament throughout the year. So far more than 1 lakh people have seen the new Parliament building and the Constitution House,” he said.
Vice President and Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Jagdeep Dhankhar will inaugurate the newly constructed ‘Prerna Sthal’ in the Parliament House complex later Sunday.
Birla, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju will also attend the inauguration.
All members of Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha have also been invited to the programme.
The ‘Prerna Sthal’ has been built in a way to ensure convenience of dignitaries and other visitors who will be able to see and pay tributes to the statues of great leaders and freedom fighters at one place inside the Parliament House Complex.