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A meeting of the floor leaders of the INDIA bloc will be held today at 5 p.m. at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's residence here in the national capital.
According to the sources, discussions are likely to be held on the post of Lok Sabha deputy speaker. Earlier on Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Om Birla was appointed as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha for the second time in a row after the motion moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and seconded by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh was adopted by the House through a voice vote. The house echoed with 'Ayes' and 'Noes' and the pro-tem speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab declared Om Birla as the Speaker of the lower house. The opposition which had named K Suresh as the Speaker candidate of the INDIA bloc did not press for a division vote. However, the ruling BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has kept mum over the post of Deputy Speaker in the Lok Sabha, which has been being demanded by the opposition INDIA bloc. The INDIA bloc leaders have been stressing that the post of Deputy Speaker should be held by the opposition. However, after receiving no clarity from the BJP over the same, the INDIA bloc nominated Congress MP K Suresh for the post of Speaker, paving the way for an election for the post. The Deputy Speaker presides over the House when the post of the Speaker is vacant. Meanwhile, President Droupadi Murmu, earlier today, criticized the imposition of 'emergency' in 1975 under the Congress government led by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. "Emergency was the biggest and darkest chapter of the direct attack on the Constitution. The entire country plunged into chaos during the emergency, but the nation was victorious against such unconstitutional powers," said the president while addressing the joint sitting of the Parliament. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav reacted to the President's Address to the joint session of both Houses of Parliament and said that it is a tradition and the speech in reality represents the government's views. "This is the tradition and it happens every time. We listen to the President. That is actually the speech of the Government," said Akhilesh Yadav. Earlier on Wednesday, the Lok Sabha adopted a resolution condemning the Emergency imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as Speaker Om Birla read out the resolution condemning the act and said that June 25, 1975, will always be known as a black chapter in the history of India. The 'Sengol' also found its prominence in Parliament on Thursday amid the ongoing political controversy ignited by Samajwadi Party (SP) Member of Parliament (MP) RK Chaudhary's recent comments calling it a symbol of monarchy. "The Constitution is the symbol of democracy. The BJP government, under PM Modi, installed the Sengol in Parliament. 'Sengol' means 'Raj-Dand' or 'Raja ka Danda'. After ending the princely order, the country became independent. Will the country be run by 'Raja ka danda' or the Constitution? I demand that Sengol be removed from Parliament to save the Constitution," said Chaudhary. (ANI)
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