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TDP declines to field candidate for Lok Sabha Speaker's post

The Telugu Desam Party has decided not to field a candidate for the Lok Sabha Speaker's post.

The Speaker's post fell vacant following the death of G M C Balayogi (a TDP MP) in a helicopter crash on March three.

The TDP has extended outside support to the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre.

Briefing newspersons after the TDP politburo's meeting in Hyderababd on Saturday night, party president and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu attributed the decision to the developments in Gujarat.

"Our party has been very much concerned about the developments in Gujarat. We raised the issue in Parliament and also made four demands to the BJP to tackle the situation effectively. However, we are not happy with their response."

"Under the circumstances, we will not field a candidate for the Speaker's post," Naidu said.

The election to the post will be held on May 10 with the assent of President K R Narayanan, official sources said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the names of a number of BJP candidates are doing the rounds for the post, sources said.

These include Union Ministers Ram Naik, Jagmohan and Shanta Kumar and BJP spokesman V K Malhotra, they said.

With an eye on the Delhi assembly elections due next year, the BJP leadership may induct Malhotra into the Union ministry to handle the portfolio of urban development and poverty alleviation currently being held by Ananth Kumar, the sources said.

Ananth Kumar may be moved to another ministry, they added.

A final decision may be taken around the last week of May after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee returns from a holiday in Manali, the sources said.

With inputs from PTI

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