The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has taken charge at the Centre after securing 293 seats in the recent Lok Sabha elections. This victory has enabled Narendra Modi to become Prime Minister of India for the third consecutive term. The grand oath-taking ceremony for the Prime Minister and his Council of Ministers was held on the evening of June 9, where Modi and 71 BJP-NDA leaders were sworn in.
The very next day, the newly inducted ministers received their portfolios. Core ministries such as Home, Defence, Finance, Road Transport, Railways, and External Affairs have been retained by the same ministers as in Modi's second term. Amit Shah continues as Home Minister, Rajnath Singh as Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman as Finance Minister, S. Jaishankar as External Affairs Minister, Nitin Gadkari as Minister of Road Transport, and Shivraj Singh Chouhan as Agriculture Minister.
In the 2024 elections, the BJP emerged as the largest party, winning 240 seats. Although this was short of the majority mark of 272, they formed the government with the support of allies like Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) [JD(U)], Chirag Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena. While most portfolios have been assigned, the position of Speaker for the Modi 3.0 government remains undecided. It is still unclear whether the Speaker will be from the BJP or one of its allies.
In the previous term, the 17th Lok Sabha, where the BJP held a majority with 303 seats, Om Birla was elected as Speaker, and notably, no Deputy Speaker was appointed during the five-year term. Article 93 of the Constitution mandates that the Lok Sabha elect a Speaker and Deputy Speaker whenever these offices are vacant, but it does not specify a time frame.
Looking back, in the 12th Lok Sabha under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, TDP leader GMC Balayogi was elected Speaker in 1998 and held the post until 2002. During the BJP-led NDA government from 1999 to 2004, Shiv Sena's Manohar Joshi served as Speaker.
In 2014, under Modi's leadership, the BJP won 282 seats, achieving a majority and forming a strong government with 336 seats with NDA allies. In 2019, the BJP's performance improved further, winning 303 seats and 353 seats with allies.
During Vajpayee's era, the BJP relied heavily on its allies due to not crossing the 200-seat mark, which influenced the Speaker's position being given to alliance partners. However, in Modi's first two terms, the BJP's majority allowed them to hold the Speaker's post while including allies in the government.
In 2024, the BJP is again the largest party with 240 seats, close to the majority mark but still 32 seats short. This situation allows the BJP to negotiate for the Speaker's post, but if they cannot secure it, the position might go to TDP's Chandrababu Naidu or JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar. The suspense continues as we await the final decision.
