Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that the Opposition bloc will support the BJP-led NDA government’s choice of Lok Sabha Speaker if they give the deputy Speaker’s post to the INDI Alliance. He said that Union Defence Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh spoke to the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, seeking consensus between the government and the opposition. However, as of now, Singh hasn’t reverted to their demand for the deputy speaker post.
“The prime minister said that the Opposition should cooperate with the government constructively. The opposition has clearly stated that they will support the Speaker, however, the convention is that the Opposition should get the deputy Speaker post…Rajnath Singh called Mallikarjun Kharge, seeking support for the Speaker. He is yet to return a call to Kharge ji…,” Gandhi said, adding that “PM Modi is saying there should be constructive cooperation, and now our leader is being insulted.”
Furthermore, the Raebareli MP said that the intentions of the PM and the ruling party aren’t clear. “…PM Modi does not want any constructive cooperation…We have said that if the convention is followed, we will give full support in the election of the Speaker,” he added. Notably, his stance was supported by the alliance partner and Samajwadi Party (SP) Leader Akhilesh Yadav.