Less than 24 hours after ironing out differences over the Speaker’s election, the Congress and the Trinamool Congress were back to differing over the process after the demand for a division (physical vote) by some Opposition members was bypassed by pro-tem Speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab as the Congress leadership did not press for it.

Speaking to reporters outside Parliament, Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee said: “The motion was adopted without putting it to vote. This is a clear testament to the fact that the government did not have the numbers….”

He also sought to pick up cudgels for MPs who had demanded a division; arguing that it had to be allowed even if one member seeks it. “You can clearly see and hear from the footage of the Lok Sabha that several members of the Opposition sought and asked for a division,” Abhishek said.

There were some in the INDIA bloc who had asked for a division but the Congress leadership was clearly not in favour of pressing for it after making a point by fielding a candidate for the Speaker’s post. The Trinamool Congress had earlier in the day communicated to the Congress that it would support the candidature of Kodikunnil Suresh and go with whatever the Congress decided with regard to the vote — voice vote or division.

AICC media in-charge Jairam Ramesh told reporters later that the INDIA bloc had “exercised their democratic right and moved motions in support of Kodikunnil Suresh as Lok Sabha Speaker”. After the voice vote was taken, the INDIA bloc parties could have insisted on a division. “They did not do so. This is because they wanted a spirit of consensus and cooperation to prevail, a spirit singularly lacking in the actions of the PM and NDA.”

This was either not communicated down the line to each and every INDIA bloc member or there were some within who had a different point of view.

On Tuesday also, the Congress drew flak from some INDIA bloc constituents for filing the nomination for Suresh without consulting everyone. On both occasions, time was a factor but as one MP pointed out, the schedule of the Speaker’s election was known for days and the Congress could have planned it better. The Congress leaders, on the
other hand, said the government reached out with the proposed name only in the eleventh hour; leaving little time to strategise.

Apart from this, the INDIA bloc parties have begun consultations for zeroing in on an MP from the Opposition for the post of deputy Speaker though the government has not shown any intent of filling the post which was left vacant for the entire duration of the 17th Lok Sabha.