Bhartruhari Mahtab, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Odisha, took oath as the Protem Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha this morning. President Draupadi Murmu administered him the oath at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Let us tell you, Protem Speaker is a temporary post. The primary role of the Pro Tem Speaker is to administer the oath of office to new members.
The Speaker Pro Tem is appointed as the temporary Speaker of the Parliament. This appointment is made when the regular speaker has not been elected. The job of the Protem Speaker is to administer oath to the elected members. Apart from this, the process of electing a new speaker has to be conducted. The role of Pro Tem Speaker is temporary and this responsibility ends after the selection of the new Speaker.
Mahtab received the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in the year 2017. Along with this, he was also honored with Sansad Ratna Award for his excellent performance in 'Debate'.
The opposition has strongly criticized the appointment of Mahtab as temporary speaker. It is alleged that the government has appointed Congress MP K. Suresh's claim was ignored. At the same time, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that Mahtab is a seven-time Lok Sabha member, making him suitable for this post. He said Suresh had lost the elections in 1998 and 2004, due to which his current term is his fourth consecutive term in the lower house. Earlier, he was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989, 1991, 1996 and 1999.