Bhartruhari Mahtab, a seven-time Member of Parliament, was sworn in as pro-tem Speaker for the 18th Lok Sabha today. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Cuttack. However, the Opposition slammed the Centre for Mr Mahtab’s appointment as the pro-tem Speaker and “overlooking” Kodikunnil Suresh, an eight-term Lok Sabha member, who apparently should have got the post as per the convention of naming the senior-most MP. They also alleged that Suresh was sidelined because “he belongs to the Dalit community”. 

Who is Bhartruhari Mahtab?

1. Born in 1957, Mr Mahtab is the son of Odisha’s first chief minister, the late Harekrushna Mahtab. After completing his schooling in Bhadrak, he pursued a Bachelor of Arts and later a Master’s Degree in English from Utkal University in 1978, according to his election affidavit.

2. After being a part of the former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for a few decades, Mr Mahtab severed ties with the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He expressed displeasure over the party’s functioning in recent years. Subsequently, he joined the BJP, which later announced him as its candidate for the Cuttack seat. In 2024 polls, Mr Mahtab secured a historic seventh consecutive term from the seat, defeating his former party colleague Santrupt Misra by 57,077 votes.

3.  Mr Mahtab is a seven-term MP from the Cuttack parliamentary constituency in Odisha, making him one of the longest-serving parliamentarians in the 18th Lok Sabha. The 66-year-old has been representing the Cuttack seat in the Lower House of Parliament since 1998. He was on the panel of chairpersons in the 17th Lok Sabha.

4. The choice of Mr Mahtab to serve as the pro-tem Speaker comes after the BJP’s resounding victory in Odisha, where the party managed to dislodge Mr Patnaik’s 24-year regime. While the saffron party bagged 78 seats and formed a government in the state. The BJP also registered a win on 20 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

5. During his last term, he served as the chairperson of the Standing Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development. He was also appointed as the deputy chairperson of the Committee on Official Language, besides being a member of the Public Accounts Committee.  Mr Mahtab also serves as the owner and editor of The Prajatantra, an Odia daily that was founded by his father.

New Delhi:

The BJP and the Congress have gone to the mattresses, again.

This time the two are fighting over the appointment of BJP leader and seven-time MP Bhartruhari Mahtab as Pro Tem Speaker, a post active only for the first days of a new Parliament. The Pro Tem leader usually administers the oath to new MPs and conducts the election for a full-time Speaker.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to announce the new Speaker’s name on Wednesday, two days after the first sitting of the newly elected 18th Lok Sabha. Once the Speaker is elected – by a simple majority, meaning the BJP’s pick is unlikely to fail – the Pro Tem’s post ceases to exist.

The Congress – which was expecting Kodikunnil Suresh, a Dalit leader and an eight-time MP from Kerala, to be named Pro Tem – has criticised the BJP over the appointment of Mr Mahtab. Senior leader KC Venugopal called it “an attempt to destroy democratic and parliamentary norms…”

READ | BJP’s Bhartruhari Mahtab Is Pro Tem Speaker, Congress Says “Mistake”

“Government should explain why it chose to overlook K Suresh… what was the factor that disqualified him? Are there deeper issues… perhaps beyond just seniority,” he asked.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju hit back Friday, stating “I have to say it with great regret… I feel ashamed that the Congress talks like this. First, they have an issue with Pro Tem Speaker, but this post is very temporary… it has a very limited role. I was hoping that this Lok Sabha session would start with a good mood… and that we can have a productive and co-operative parliament meet.”

#WATCH | On BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab appointed pro tem Speaker of 18th Lok Sabha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju says, “…I have to say it with great regret that I feel ashamed that the Congress party talks like this. First of all, they created an issue about the… pic.twitter.com/iKwodsMRg3

— ANI (@ANI) June 21, 2024

He said tradition dictates the longest continuously-serving MP is appointed as Pro Tem, and that the choice is Bhartruhari Mahtab, who won Cuttack from 1998 to 2019 as part of ex-Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s BJD before jumping to the BJP this year to win a seventh consecutive term.

Sources told NDTV Mr Mahtab is also being considered for the full-time post.

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Meanwhile, Mr Suresh and four others – the DMK’s TR Baalu, the Trinamool’s Sudip Bandyopadhyay, and the BJP’s Radha Mohan Singh and Faggan Kulaste – have been appointed to assist Mr Mahtab.

Mr Rijiju told press the selection of a Pro Tem Speaker is based on the ‘father of the House’ concept from the British parliament, in which the longest continuously-serving MP is given the title.

It was in line with that custom that Mr Mahtab was chosen as Pro Tem, Mr Rijiju said as he also criticised the Congress for deriding the Odisha MP, who is one of the senior-most members.

There were, however, exceptions in 1956 and 1977, news agency PTI said. In ’56 Sardar Hukam Singh was named Pro Tem followed by DN Tiwari in ’77. Neither were then the senior-most members.

Responding to the Congress’ fierce attacks, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju also acknowledged Mr Suresh as an eight-time MP but pointed to breaks in 1998 and 2004. “So it is not consecutive,” he said. Mr Mahtab, he underlined, had won Cuttack seven consecutive times.

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Mr Rijiju also hit back at Mr Suresh’s claims that the appointment of the Odisha MP showed the BJP “will continue to bypass parliamentary procedure…” The Congress leader was referring to the election of Virendra Kumar Khatik in 2019; Mr Khatik then was a seven-time consecutive MP with wins from Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar between 1996 and 2004, and in Tikamgarh from 2009 to 2019.

In the 17th Lok Sabha there was also the BJP’s Maneka Gandhi, then an eight-time MP but with one break; she won Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit in 1989 (with the Janata Dal) and then lost in 1991 to the BJP’s Parashuram, before claiming seven straight Lok Sabha wins between 1996 and 2019.

Mr Rijiju pointed out Mrs Gandhi was not Pro Tem in 2019 due to the break.

Earlier the Congress’ Mr Suresh claimed Mrs Gandhi had, in fact, been offered the post but turned it down as she had not been made a Union Minister.

“The senior-most MPs then were myself and Khatik, who was chosen. This time too, we are senior-most. He was made a cabinet minister and therefore, automatically, as per Lok Sabha rules, I should have been made Pro Tem,” he said.

“My name was recommended but when the government sent recommendations to President Droupadi Murmu… my name was avoided,” he claimed.

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The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha will begin June 24, with the new MPs taking oath.

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