CPM politburo member Brinda Karat “in keeping with tradition” has claimed that the BJP-led NDA will not be allowed to “run bulldozer in Parliament this time”, a comment seen in sync with the Opposition's demand for the post of Deputy Speaker in Lok Sabha.

The former Rajya Sabha member, Karat, who was in Ranchi to attend the party state committee meeting, told the media: “It has been a glorious tradition in the country’s parliamentary history that the ruling party gives the candidate for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker and the Opposition gets the post of Deputy Speaker. But the BJP which gave the slogan of 400 paar but is present in Lok Sabha with a small stature wants to keep both these posts in its camp.”

“However, the Opposition this time will not tolerate Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intention of running a bulldozer on parliamentary tradition,” said Karat.

Talks between the BJP-led NDA and the INDIA bloc failed to reach a consensus for the Lok Sabha Speaker post leading to the election scheduled on Wednesday. It is being alleged by the Congress that the talks failed as the BJP was non-committal about the Deputy Speaker post.

The position of Deputy Speaker in Lok Sabha is traditionally given to the Opposition. However, the BJP had appointed its ally AIADMK's M. Thambi Durai as Deputy Speaker in 2014. The post has been vacant since 2019.

In the 16th and the 17th Lok Sabha, there was no leader of Opposition as the Congress did not have enough numbers. This time the Congress put up a good show in the general elections and the party, backed by its INDIA bloc allies, is pushing for the Deputy Speaker's post.

When asked about the issue of ghuspetiye (a term used by BJP leaders for Bangladeshi infiltrators and recently used by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma), Karat said: “Assam chief minister should first understand Jharkhand, nothing will be achieved by merely repeating the words of his masters because the BJP wants to use the slogan of ghuspetiye only for communal polarisation. If infiltration is taking place from Bangladesh, then it is the responsibility of the Centre to stop it.”

She alleged that under the garb of ghuspetiye, the BJP is unnecessarily trying to harass Bengali-speaking Muslims staying in Jharkhand.

Karat also asked Sarma to explain what the previous BJP-led governments in Jharkhand did to curb infiltration from Bangladesh.