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Deputy speaker's election postponed

The election for the deputy speakership of the Lok Sabha, scheduled to be held tomorrow, has been postponed till the next session of the house.

A decision to this effect was taken by the speaker, G M C Balayogi in consultation with the leaders of all political parties represented in the house. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madanlal Khurana was also present.

After the meeting, Khurana said the election for the deputy speaker will now be held in the first week of the winter session, which is likely to begin in November.

He said an agreement on the issue was reached between the ruling coalition partners and opposition leader in the house Sharad Pawar. The election had been postponed keeping in view the suggestion made by Trinamul Congress leader Mamata Banerjee.

Earlier during the day, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had a meeting with the BJP and its allies. Mamta Banerjee had suggested that there should be a consensus candidate for the deputy speaker's post. The prime minister reportedly accepted her suggestion.

Earlier, the BJP had announced Prof Rita Verma as its candidate for the post of deputy speaker, while former minister of state for home P M Sayeed of the Congress was the common opposition candidate.

The deadline for filing nominations for the election was 12 noon today. Only one nomination, for Sayeed, was filed by G M Banatwala of the Muslim League today, just before the decision to postpone the election was taken.

Replying to a question, Khurana said though a set of nominations had been filed, both the Congress and the BJP will reject the motion for election of deputy speaker when it will come up for consideration tomorrow.

On Sunday, the Trinamul Congress had asked the BJP and the Congress to withdraw their candidates for the post of deputy speaker and work towards a consensus on the issue.

"I do not want the house to get divided on this issue," TC chief Mamta Banerjee said at a press conference, adding that she was hopeful that both parties would agree to her proposal. She had already held talks with Vajpayee and senior Congress leaders P A Sangma and Santosh Mohan Deb on this proposal.

She said the election for the deputy speaker's post could be postponed for some time and a consensus could be evolved on the issue. If necessary, a special session could be convened to elect the deputy speaker.

UNI

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