"Opposition ready to extend support to speaker candidate, but Dy speaker should be ours," says Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi, June 25: After senior cabinet minister Rajnath Singh reached out to Opposition leaders on behalf of the government in a bid to build consensus for the post of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Lower House of Parliament, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that they had conveyed Rajnath Singh that opposition is ready to extend support to NDA's Speaker candidate, but the post of Deputy Speaker should be given to the opposition.

Interacting with Media on Tuesday, Rahul said, "We have said to Rajnath Singh that we will support their Speaker (candidate) but the convention is that the post of Deputy Speaker be given to opposition."

Further, detailing about talks that happened between Rajnath Singh and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul also alleged that Opposition leaders are getting "insulted".

"Today it is written in the newspaper that PM Modi has said that the Opposition should cooperate with the government constructively. Rajnath Singh called Mallikarjun Kharge and he asked him to extend support to the Speaker. The entire Opposition said that we would support the speaker, but the convention is that the Deputy Speaker post should be given to the opposition. Rajnath Singh said that he would call back Mallikarjun Kharge but he has not done that yet...PM Modi is asking for cooperation from Opposition but our leader is getting insulted," said Rahul Gandhi.

If the Opposition INDIA bloc announces its candidate for the post, it will be the first time that elections will be held for the Speaker of the lower house. Since independence, the Lok Sabha Speaker and Deputy Speaker have been elected by consensus between the ruling party and the opposition.

The Lok Sabha Speaker will be elected on June 26. On June 27, President Murmu is scheduled to address a joint sitting of both houses of Parliament. The NDA, which has 293 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha, enjoys a clear majority, with the opposition INDIA bloc having 234 MPs.