Showering respect and saluting the honour, Lok Sabha welcomes its new conventional head, Om Birla

New Delhi, June 19: Moving the motion in a positive mode, the cabinet on third consecutive day of the Budget Session has appointed Kota MP Om Birla as new Lok Sabha speaker, who is to be the conventional head for the next five years.

 

Congratulating Birla for the position, PM Modi hugged him of joy and said that it was a proud moment for him to see Om Birla on the Speaker’s chair.

 

"Personally, I remember working with Om Birla Ji for a long time. He represents Kota, a place that is mini-India, land associated with education & learning. He has been in public life for yrs. He began as a student leader&has been serving society since then without a break," said PM Modi.

 

"It is a matter of great pride for the House and we all congratulate Om Birla Ji on being unanimously elected as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Many MPs know Birla Ji well. He has served in the state of Rajasthan as well”, he added in the newly appointed Speaker’s honour.

Ministers Amit Shah and Nitin Gadkari meanwhile backed Birla's name for the said position, who now is set to succeed Sumitra Mahajan. It is Speaker Birla now who will decide further in cases of a member causing disturbance and whether the member will remain in the House or will be expelled from it.

 

People in Rajasthan give several reasons to explain BJP's choice for the speaker. Birla, whose family has traditionally been involved in managing cooperative societies, shares over two decades of close working relationship with both BJP president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi before they came to power in Gujarat.

 

Birla is also said to be close to the 'working president' JP Nadda. When Nadda was the chief of BJP's youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha in early 90s, had been his colleague as an office bearer in the national unit and later led the state unit of BJYM himself.

 

He further is known for his strong booth management skills, giving his colleagues lessons on how to maintain grip over their constituencies starting from booth level. Finally, Birla, who started his career in active politics in 2003 by defeating Congress's Shanti Dhariwal in the Kota South Assembly seat has, in his 15 years of public life, maintained a clean image.