The Hindu : Manohar Joshi to be Speaker

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 09, 2002

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Manohar Joshi to be Speaker

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI MAY 8. Manohar Joshi, Shiv Sena MP who is Union Minister for Heavy Industries, is set to become the next Lok Sabha Speaker for which election is scheduled on May 10, when the motion is expected to be carried through a voice vote in the absence of a second candidate.

Two sets of nomination papers were filed this evening — one by the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, seconded by the Home Minister, L.K. Advani, and the other by the Defence Minister, George Fernandes, seconded by the Telugu Desam Party leader, K. Yerran Naidu — soon after Mr. Joshi returned here from a quick trip to Mumbai to seek the blessings of the Sena chief, Bal Thackeray.

It seems that for the Sena the position of Speaker means further legitimacy, the chance to ``preside over'' the largest democracy in the world. The Sena chief was disenfranchised by the Election Commission for highly inflammatory communal statements and coming as this decision does in the midst of the Gujarat horror, it has indeed raised many an eyebrow.

The Opposition parties, including the Congress, the CPI(M), the Samajwadi Party and several others have let it be known that they were not interested in contesting the election as the Speaker's post belonged by convention to the ruling party. They would neither propose nor second the name for it was ``entirely the business of the NDA.''

Yesterday, the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Pramod Mahajan had conveyed to the Congress the possible names for the Speaker's position, and later the shortlist of two was also mentioned. The Congress conveyed to Mr. Mahajan that it was not contesting the post and it was for the NDA to decide who should preside over the Lok Sabha. Opposition leaders, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Somnath Chatterjee, were also kept informed, Mr. Mahajan told reporters.

The first five-name shortlist was further shortened to two — the Petroleum Minister, Ram Naik, and Mr. Joshi — after an informal meeting between Mr. Vajpayee, Mr. Advani, the External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh and Mr. Mahajan, yesterday morning.

The other three were struck off; Jagmohan, the Urban Development Minister, was considered too inflexible, V.K. Malhotra did not have the requisite stature to command all round respect, and Shanta Kumar had recently got embroiled in an internal BJP controversy which led him later to offer unconditional apologies to the BJP president and to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

And after another meeting last night at South Bloc — Mr. Vajpayee, Mr. Advani, Mr. Mahajan and Defence Minister, George Fernandes attended — Mr. Joshi's name emerged on top. By 10.30 p.m. Mr. Mahajan had conveyed the decision to Mr. Thackeray and in the morning the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu, whose nominee, G.M.C. Balayogi, had occupied the position till his death in March, was also told.

Although BJP leaders did not say this in so many words, it seems that Mr. Naik's name was dropped as the Prime Minister did not want the Petroleum Ministry which he heads to be up for grabs — Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamul Congress Party is waiting to be accommodated. Moreover, the Speaker's post could also appease the Sena which has been demanding an additional Cabinet portfolio. It is assumed that in the next Cabinet re-shuffle the Sena would retain the Heavy Industries portfolio or be given something ``substantial'' in its place.

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