Sumitra Mahajan elected as Lok Sabha speaker

Saturday, 7 June 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: The Lok Sabha elected Sumitra Mahajan, a veteran ally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as speaker on Friday, clearing a key hurdle

before the government unveils its policy programme next week. Mahajan, 71, an eight-term member of the house from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was unanimously elected as speaker of the 545-member Lok Sabha, or House of the People. Modi won the first outright parliamentary majority in 30 years in last month’s election, creating expectations that the new legislature will do a better job after a previous term marked by legislative drift and chaotic debates. Although the BJP and its allies in the National Democratic Alliance control a big majority, with a combined count of 336 seats, Modi will need to cobble together alliances to pass some measures through the Rajya Sabha. President Pranab Mukherjee is due to present the government’s agenda next week, with parliament reconvening in July to consider Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s first budget.