The Congress MP appears to be the front-runner for the coveted post of Speaker of the new Lok Sabha, which is to be decided by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Reddy, who has made a name for himself as a powerful orator in parliament, seems ably qualified for the post by virtue of being a member of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for several decades.
“He knows the rules and regulations of the House and may succeed outgoing Speaker Somnath Chatterjee,” a senior Congress leader told Deccan Herald on Tuesday.
The 67-year-old leader has been elected to Lok Sabha five times and has twice been a member of the upper house. Prior to his role as a parliamentarian, he had also served the member of the Andra Pradesh assembly.
The MP from Chevella (Andhra Pradesh) had been the choice for the best parliamentarian award. Sushil Kumar Shinde, former Maharashtra chief minister and union minister, has also been in the reckoning for the post. If the leadership seems inclined to pick a woman for the post, it would then be a toss-up between Girija Vyas or Krishna Teerath.
Vyas has won from Udaipur in Rajasthan, while Teerath had been elected from Delhi. Teerath, a Dalit, also boasts of the additional qualification of being the speaker of Delhi Assembly. While the Speaker’s post is the prerogative of the ruling party, parliamentary convention dictates that the deputy Speaker’s post should go to the principle opposition -which in this case is the BJP. Of course, if the occupant of the speaker's post is from the North, his deputy is possibly an MP from the South.
Going by this logic, it is safe to surmise that the deputy chair could be Karnataka's D B Chandre Gowda's. As qualifications go, Gowda more than fits the bill, having been the speaker of the state assembly and also been an advocate before. His choice could also be the way the party rewards its Karnataka unit for having sent the maximum number of BJP MPs.
Pro-tem Speaker
President Pratibha Patil is likely to appoint Manikrao Gavit as the pro-tem speaker as he is the senior most MP with 25 years of experience. She will administer oath to him a day before the Parliament meets.
The pro-tem speaker will then administer oath to the newly elected MPs.
DH News Service