BJP uses Lok Sabha Speaker’s election to expand NDA quietly

The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) comfortably elected veteran BJP leader Om Birla as the Lok Sabha Speaker for a second five-year term, exposing the weaknesses in the Opposition ranks.

In the process, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has managed to initiate the expansion of the NDA as smaller parties like the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and YSRCP helped the ruling coalition in the election.

Birla also enjoyed the support of at least five independent MPs.

Important victory

BJP leaders feel the Narendra Modi government has not only won the election after days of speculation that hinted at uncertainty but has succeeded in dividing the Opposition ranks.

They believe that Birla’s victory suggests that the campaign by the Congress and its partners that there are differences in the NDA over the Speaker’s post has fallen flat and the charge that (TDP leader N) Chandrababu Naidu was demanding the Speakership has proven to be false.

“Birla’s election is a very significant victory for the BJP and NDA. It proves the BJP has been able to maintain good and cordial ties with all NDA partners unlike what is being promoted in the media by the Congress leadership. The attempt to create divisions in the NDA has fallen flat,” Lahar Singh Siroya, a BJP member of the Rajya Sabha, told The Federal.

Congress strategy decried

According to the BJP, the party decided not to respond to the tactics being created by the Congress for the post of Deputy Speaker in the Lok Sabha. “The division within the Opposition alliance is now in the open whereas the NDA has managed to increase its numbers with the help of like-minded parties,” said Siroya.

Although the Speaker was elected by voice vote without a division of votes, NDA leaders were confident that it enjoyed the support of at least 303 members in the Lok Sabha.

NDA’s huge support

The NDA "managed to cross the 300-mark" for the first time in the Lower House since the parliamentary elections threw up a hung House.

The crucial support provided by a Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) member and four MPs of the YSRCP of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has started a process of cooperation in the ruling alliance. NDA leaders hope this cooperation will continue for the next five years.

Akali Dal hopes

“The SAD has worked with the NDA in the past and this cooperation will continue in Parliament. We have always worked with the BJP and NDA in Parliament and will continue to do so,” Prem Singh Chandumajra, general secretary of SAD and a former Lok Sabha member, told The Federal.

SAD leaders feel their party could not support the INDIA alliance as it opposes the Congress in Punjab and nationally. They said they backed the Speaker as they felt the election should not become a cause for political tussle.

Akali convulsions

At the same time, former Union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the lone Akali Dal member in the Lok Sabha, has accused the BJP of making attempts to break the SAD in Punjab.

“The SAD is going through a turbulent phase in Punjab as many leaders are demanding that Sukhbir Singh Badal should not remain the party president and some other leader should get an opportunity. There is an overwhelming demand for Sukhbir Singh Badal’s resignation,” Chandumajra said.

JD(U)’s view

The Janata Dal (United), a key NDA ally, is still rooted in consensus politics.

“The election of the Speaker is a victory for the politics of consensus. We are confident that in the coming days that consensus will prevail in Parliament and not the view of the majority,” party leader KC Tyagi told The Federal.

“It is important that the democratic values and traditions of Parliament are upheld… The post of Lok Sabha Speaker must not be seen as if it belongs to a party or an alliance. It is for all parties to work with the Speaker,” he added.