Om Birla, a three-time BJP MP, was re-elected as the Lok Sabha Speaker for the second time on Tuesday, prevailing over INDIA bloc's candidate K Suresh through a voice vote in a rare contested election.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed the motion for the election of Birla as the Speaker, which was seconded by senior BJP leaders and allied parties including TDP, JDU, Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, and Chirag Paswan's LJP.
Shortly after the election, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi approached Mr. Birla to congratulate him and also shook hands with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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This election for the Lok Sabha Speaker marked only the fourth instance in history where the Speaker was chosen through an election. In recent decades, it has been customary for the Speaker to be nominated after achieving consensus among members of the House.
Birla secured his re-election from the Kota seat in Rajasthan, marking the first instance in 20 years that a presiding officer has been re-elected to the Lower House. He won the parliamentary seat by a significant margin of over 41,139 votes.
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