Initiate process of electing Lok Sabha deputy Speaker: Mallikarjun Kharge to PM Modi

Congress president urges PM Modi to elect deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, citing violation of Constitution and democratic principles.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday (June 10, 2025) wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to initiate the process of electing a deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

Keeping the position vacant "does not augur well for India's democratic polity and is also in violation of well laid out provisions of the Constitution," the Congress chief said.

"Dear Prime Minister, I am writing to bring to your kind attention the highly concerning matter in regard to the prevailing vis-à-vis the vacancy of the deputy speaker in the Lok Sabha.

"Article 93 of the Constitution of India mandates the election of both the speaker and the deputy speaker of the House of the People. Constitutionally, the deputy speaker is the second-highest presiding officer of the House after the speaker," he said.

Mr. Kharge said traditionally, the deputy Speaker has been elected in the second or third session of a newly constituted Lok Sabha.

The procedure for this election mirrors that of the speaker, with the only distinction being that the date for the deputy speaker's election is fixed by the speaker, as per Rule 8(1) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, he noted.

In his letter to the Prime Minister, Mr. Kharge noted that from the first to the sixteenth Lok Sabha, every House has had a deputy speaker.