MUMBAI (Reuters) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi passed the first major political test of his third term on Wednesday after one of the ruling party’s candidates was elected speaker of parliament’s lower house, defeating an opposition lawmaker by a vote.
Om Birla, of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, who was the council’s last term speaker, was elected again, defeating K Suresh, an eight-time MP from the opposition Congress party.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was announced by his party as opposition leader late on Tuesday, was with Modi when he congratulated Birla on his election, in a rare show of harmony between the two arch rivals.
This is the first time that Gandhi (54 years old), a descendant of the Nehru-Gandhi family, has assumed a constitutional role in Parliament, a role that grants him the status of a minister in the government.
“It is very important to allow the voice of the opposition to be represented in this House,” Gandhi said in his speech while congratulating Birla.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Lok Sabha, is usually a lawmaker from the largest party, and is usually elected unopposed, through cross-party consensus.
The National Democratic Alliance, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, has 293 representatives in the House of Representatives, 21 more than the required majority of 272.
Modi, who was sworn in as prime minister for a record-equalling third time on June 9, will need the support of regional parties to run his government in his third term, after his party lost its absolute majority in parliament.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, who directs business in the decision-making House and presides over it, plays a crucial role in passing laws.