Two-time BJP MP Om Birla was elected as the speaker of the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The 56-year-old is a member of Parliament from Rajasthan’s Kota and succeeds Sumitra Mahajan.
The motion to choose Birla as the speaker was moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is also Leader of the House, and passed by a voice vote. “That Shri Om Birla, a member of the is House, be chosen as the Speaker of this House,” read the motion. The motion was seconded by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Birla for his election and called him an “inspiration” for the House.
Birla’s name was supported by all major opposition parties, including Congress, Trinamool, DMK and BJD. His election as the speaker was a foregone conclusion given that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance has a clear majority of 353 members in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
A three-term Rajasthan assembly member, Birla served as parliamentary secretary to the state government from 2004 to 2008. He is considered to be close to both PM Modi and home minister Amit Shah.
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He won his first Lok Sabha election in 2014 and was again elected this year from Rajasthan’s Kota-Bundi seat. Birla defeated Congress’s Ramnarayan Meena with a margin of over 2.5 lakh votes in the recently concluded general election.
Birla was the national vice president of BJP’s youth wing, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM). He also headed BJYM in Rajasthan for six years. A social worker, he has worked for the welfare of differently abled people and women. He led a relief team of over 100 volunteers including doctors to help the victims of the January 2001 Gujarat earthquake.