7 Time MP Bhartruhari Mahtab Takes Oath As Pro Tem Speaker

The 7 time Member of Parliament Bhartruhari Mahtab takes oath as the Pro-Tem Speaker by the President Of India Droupadi Murmu.

Monday saw the pro-tem induction of Bhartruhari Mahtab, a seven-time member of parliament, as the 18th Lok Sabha’s speaker.
At Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Droupadi Murmu gave the oath.
The oath-taking of the new MPs will kick off the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha, which was marked by a swearing-in ceremony.

 

The controversy over the pro-tem Speaker post

The opposition has criticised the administration for selecting Mahtab as the acting Speaker while ignoring Kodikunnil Suresh, an eight-term member of the Lok Sabha, who ought to have been named in accordance with the tradition of designating the most senior Member of Parliament for the role. They claimed that because “he belongs to the Dalit community,” Suresh was ignored. President Dropadi Murmu nominated a group of senior members to support Mahtab earlier this week, including Suresh, T R Baalu of the DMK, Sudip Bandyopadhyay of the TMC, and Radha Mohan Singh and Faggan Singh Kulaste of the BJP. Nonetheless, it appears that the Opposition INDIA group would now reject the post assigned to Suresh along with two others (Baalu and Bandyopadhyay, according to sources).

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Who Is Bhartruhari Mahtab?

Born in Odisha on September 8, 1957, Bhartruhari Mahtab is an Indian politician who has been nominated to lead the Lok Sabha pro tem in June 2024.[1][2][3] He served in the Lok Sabha from 1998 until 2024. He joined the BJP before the 2024 election. Vinod Tawde, Dharmendra Pradhan, and Baijayant Panda welcomed him into the party.
Mahtab belonged to the political party Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which he left on March 28, 2024, in order to join the BJP. In 1998, he was chosen to serve in the Odisha seat of Cuttack for the 12th Lok Sabha. From the same constituency, he was elected again to the Lok Sabha in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019.
In 2017, he was granted the Distinguished Lawmaker Award. In addition, he has won the Sansad Ratna Award in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 for his exceptional work in “Debates.” On June 20, 2024, the President of India named him as the Pro-tem speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha in accordance with Article 95(1) of the Indian Constitution. The position took effect on the first day of 18th Lok Sabha Session.