BJD’s Bhartruhari Mahtab likely to be deputy speaker in Lok Sabha

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) headed by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is being offered the post of deputy speaker in the Lok Sabha, sources said.

If insiders in the BJP leadership are to be believed, Union home minister Amit Shah is said to have told Patnaik that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is keen to offer the post of deputy speaker of Lok Sabha to a member from the BJD.

Backchannels are busy zeroing down on the name of the BJD candidate who is likely to be appointed to the coveted post. It is most likely that Bhartruhari Mahtab, the six-time MP from Cuttack constituency of Odisha will occupy the office of deputy speaker. Mahtab also has the distinction of being feted with the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 2017.