BJP Leaders Huddle To Choose Speaker

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday chaired a meeting of senior ministers to plan the floor strategy for the upcoming Parliament Session during which President Droupadi Murmu is scheduled to spell out the NDA government's vision for the next five years.

The meeting at Singh's official residence was attended by ministers S Jaishankar, Manohar Lal Khattar, Bhupender Yadav, Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Kiren Rijiju, Annapurna Devi, Rajiv Ranjan Singh 'Lalan' and Chirag Paswan.

The defence minister is learnt to have sought inputs from the senior ministers, including NDA partners Lalan Singh and Paswan of the JD(U) and LJP(RV) respectively, for the president's address to the joint sitting of Parliament scheduled for June 27.

The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha begins on June 24 when members will take oath and then choose the Speaker on June 26.

Both Houses will take up the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address on June 28. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to reply to the debate on July 2-3.

The meeting at the defence minister's residence is also learnt to have deliberated upon the possible candidates for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker.

The JD(U) has said it would support the BJP nominee for the Speaker's post, while another key ally TDP has sought a consensus candidate for the coveted post.

The opposition INDIA bloc has sought the Deputy Speaker's post for its nominee, while the BJP is mulling giving the post to one of its alliance partners.

The names of BJP leaders Radha Mohan Singh, D Purandeshwari and Bhratruhari Mahtab as possible successor to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla are doing the rounds.

Senior Congress leader K Suresh, an eight-term Lok Sabha member, is the senior-most in terms of parliamentary experience and in contention for the role of Protem Speaker.