Virendra Kumar, the seven-time parliamentarian from Madhya Pradesh, has been named Lok Sabha’s temporary Speaker when the lower house meets later this month for the first time.
As the Lok Sabha’s pro tem speaker, the lawmaker from Madhya Pradesh’s Tikamgarh will administer oath to the newly-elected MPs and preside over the sitting of the Lok Sabha to elect its speaker.
The interim speaker is appointed by Rashtrapati Bhavan on the basis of his or her experience in parliament.
Kumar, who has won every election since 1996, is the third most-senior parliamentarian in the Lok Sabha.
Santosh Kumar Gangwar is the senior-most. But he cannot play this role because he is a union minister.
Maneka Gandhi, the former women and child development minister, was widely expected to be named for the post by virtue of her seniority in the Lok Sabha after she did not find a place in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new team.
Maneka Gandhi was elected from Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh in the national elections, her eighth term as a Lok Sabha member. She first entered the Lok Sabha in 1989.
