BJP’s Om Birla Likely To Be Next Lok Sabha Speaker

New Delhi: BJP MP Om Birla is set to be the next Lok Sabha Speaker with the Opposition accepting his candidature, NDTV reported.

The two-time MP from Kota in Rajasthan is considered close to party chief and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. There has been no formal announcement yet, but the party’s choice was confirmed by his wife Amita Birla.

“It is a very proud and a happy moment for us. We are very thankful to the cabinet for choosing him,” news agency ANI quoted her as saying. But Om Birla himself was cautious. “I have no information, I’d just gone to meet the working president as a karyakarta,” he told ANI while leaving house of JP Nadda, named the party’s working president on Monday night.

The 56-year-old has been associated with the BJP youth wing and was also in charge of the organisational revamp in Rajasthan in 2018.

On Monday, BJP MP Virendra Kumar was named the pro tem Speaker. After being sworn-in by President Ram Nath Kovind, he administered oath to the new members. With 542 members to be sworn in, the oath ceremony is expected to continue today.