Speakers have navigated the complexities of coalition politics, ensuring that the diverse voices and interests represented in the Lok Sabha were heard and respected.
During coalition governments in India, the Speakers of the Lok Sabha have played crucial roles in maintaining parliamentary decorum and ensuring smooth functioning despite diverse political alignments. Here are some Speakers who served during coalition governments:
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy: He was an Indian politician who served as the sixth president of India, serving from 1977 to 1982. Beginning a long political career with the Indian National Congress Party in the independence movement, he went on to hold several key offices in independent India – as Deputy Chief minister of Andhra state and the first chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, a two-time Speaker of the Lok Sabha and a Union Minister— before becoming the Indian president. He became the speaker in the lower house during 1967 to 1969.
Balram Jakhar: Speaker from 1980 to 1989 during the Congress-led coalition governments. Jakhar was an Indian politician, who served as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Governor of Madhya Pradesh. He was also the longest serving Speaker of the Lok Sabha, whose tenure lasted 9 years and 329 days. Jakhar was among the popular faces of Jat politics in Rajasthan during 1980s. He served as the Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare from 1991 to 1996 in Government of India. He was a member of Indian National Congress.
Rabi Ray: Speaker from 1989 to 1991 during the Janata Dal-led coalition governments. Rabi Ray (26 November 1926 – 6 March 2017) was an Indian socialist politician, a Gandhian, a speaker of the Lok Sabha and a former Union minister. He hailed from Odisha. He joined the Socialist Party in 1948, and later became member of the Samyukta Socialist Party, the Janata Party and the Janata Dal.
Shivraj Patil: Speaker from 1991 to 1996 during the Congress-led coalition governments. Shivraj Vishwanath Patil is an Indian politician who was the Minister of Home Affairs of India, from 2004 to 2008 and 10th Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996. He was Governor of the state of Punjab and Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh from 2010 to 2015. Previously, he served in the Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi cabinets as Minister of Defence during the 1980s.
Patil resigned from the post of Home Minister on 30 November 2008, following widespread criticism raised after terrorist attacks on Mumbai, and took moral responsibility for the security lapse that led to the attacks.
P.A. Sangma: He served as the Speaker from 1996 to 1998 during the 11th Lok Sabha, which saw a coalition government led by the United Front. This government was supported by various regional and leftist parties.
He was an Indian politician who has served as the 4th Chief Minister of Meghalaya from 1988 to 1990 and the 11th Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1996 to 1998. He served as a member of the Lok Sabha from Tura in Meghalaya from 2014 to 2016, 1991 to 2008 and from 1977 to 1989 and the minister of Information and Broadcasting in the Rao ministry from 1995 to 1996. He was the founder of National People’s Party and co-founder of Nationalist Congress Party. Sangma contested the 2012 Indian presidential election, supported by the Bharatiya Janta Party and the AIADMK.
G.M.C. Balayogi: He was the Speaker from 1998 to 2002 during the 12th Lok Sabha. This period also saw a coalition government led by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which included a variety of regional and smaller parties. In 1991, Balayogi was elected to the 10th Lok Sabha under the Telugu Desam Party ticket. He lost this seat in the 1996 general elections,[5] but continued political work in his community and was soon elected to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly in a by-election from the Mummidivaram Assembly constituency. Subsequently, he was appointed as the Minister of Higher Education in the Government of Andhra Pradesh.
In 1998, Balayogi was elected into parliament; he became the 12th Speaker of Lok Sabha (24 March 1998) and again for the 13th Lok Sabha (22 October 1999).
Manohar Joshi: He served as the Speaker from 2002 to 2004 during the 13th Lok Sabha. This period saw a coalition government led by the BJP-led NDA. Joshi was born on 2 December 1937 in the Marathi-speaking Brahmin family of Gajanan Krishna Joshi and Saraswati Gajanan in Nandavi of Raigad district in Maharashtra.
He was promoted to the Lok Sabha when he won in Central Mumbai in the 1999 General Elections. He was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2002 to 2004 during the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) administration. Joshi was elected for a six-year term to the Rajya Sabha on 20 March 2006 after being defeated in the previous Lok Sabha election in the Central Mumbai constituency. In September 2022, Manohar Joshi was appointed a key patron of National Legislator Conference.
Somnath Chatterjee: He served as the Speaker from 2004 to 2009 during the 14th and part of the 15th Lok Sabha. The 14th Lok Sabha witnessed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition government led by the Indian National Congress. Chatterjee was associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for most of his life, though he had been a non affiliated independent during his last decade. He was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha (House of the People) from 2004 to 2009. Chatterjee was a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) from 1968 to 2008. He became a Member of the Lok Sabha in 1971 when he was elected the first time as CPM (Marxist Communist) candidate from Burdwan (Lok Sabha constituency). Subsequently, he was re-elected nine times, except once when he lost to Mamata Banerjee in the Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency in 1984.
Following the 2004 election, he was appointed the pro tem speaker and subsequently on 4 June 2004 he was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha.
Meira Kumar: She served as the Speaker from 2009 to 2014 during the latter part of the 15th Lok Sabha and part of the 16th Lok Sabha. The UPA coalition government continued during her tenure. She is an Indian politician and former diplomat. She served as the 15th Speaker of Lok Sabha from 2009 to 2014, being the first woman to hold the post. Kumar became just the second woman to be nominated for president of India by a major political block when she secured the United Progressive Alliance’s nomination in 2017.
Sumitra Mahajan: She served as the Speaker from 2014 to 2019 during the 16th Lok Sabha. This period saw a coalition government led by the BJP-led NDA. She is an Indian politician who was the Speaker of Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament from 2014 to 2019. She belongs to Bharatiya Janata Party. She represented the Indore constituency of Madhya Pradesh from 1989 to 2019 as the longest serving Woman Member of Parliament. She also served for as a Union Minister of State from 1999 to 2004, holding the portfolios for Human Resource Development, Communications and Information Technology and Petroleum and Natural Gas. She also held position of Chairperson of Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment (2004-2009) and Standing Committee on Rural Development (2009-2014). She was the eldest and senior most among woman Members of Parliament in the 16th Lok Sabha. She is the second woman after Meira Kumar to be elected as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. She was awarded India’s third highest civilian award the Padma Bhushan in 2021.
Om Birla: Speaker from 2019 to present during the BJP-led NDA coalition government. He served as the 17th and 18th Speaker of the Lok Sabha. He serves as a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Kota-Bundi constituency in Rajasthan since 2014. In 2024 he became the first person in 20 years to be re-elected as an MP to the lower house, after serving as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. He was also a member of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly representing Kota South Assembly constituency from 2003 to 2014. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.