List of Lok Sabha Speakers and Tenure (1952-2024)

Who is called the Speaker of the Lok Sabha?

The Speaker of the Lok Sabha is the Chairman of the lower house of the Parliament. The post of 'Lok Sabha Speaker' holds an important place in Indian democracy. It has been said about the Speaker's post that the members of Parliament represent their respective constituencies, the Speaker represents the absolute authority of the House itself. Congress's Balram Jakhar was the longest-serving Speaker of the Lok Sabha, serving as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha for 9 years 10 months and 27 days.

Current Speaker of Lok Sabha:

The current Speaker of the Lok Sabha of India is Om Birla. He is a Member of Parliament in the 17th Lok Sabha of the Bharatiya Janata Party from the Kota Lok Sabha constituency, India. He has become the Parliament for the second consecutive time from Kota. Om Birla has assumed office as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha on 19 June 2019. Om Birla:

• Om Birla has been a three-time MLA and two-time MP in Rajasthan. Birla is a commerce post graduate educated at Government Commerce College, Kota.
• His political career started with student politics. He was the student union president in 1979.
• Birla won his first assembly election in 2003 from Kota South. He was re-elected twice in 2008 and 2013. He has also served as the Minister of State (MoS) in the Vasundhara Raje government.
• Birla is a party worker and is very active in BJP's youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.
• He was also associated with the cooperative movement in Rajasthan and helped start the Super Bazaar scheme while serving as the Vice President of the National Cooperative Society Ltd.
• In the Lok Sabha, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are elected by the members present in both the houses and the ordinary members to vote in the House. Therefore, there is no specific qualification prescribed to be selected as the house spear.
• The Constitution of India only requires that the Speaker should be a member of the House.

List of Speakers of Indian Lok Sabha (1952-2024):

Tenure of Lok Sabha Speaker:

According to Article 83(2) of the Constitution of India, the term of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha is 5 years. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha holds this office from the date of his election till immediately before the first sitting of the new Lok Sabha after the dissolution of the Lok Sabha to which he has been elected. He can be re-elected to this post. In the event of the dissolution of the Lok Sabha, if the Speaker ceases to be a Member of Parliament but he does not have to relinquish his office. The President may resign his office at any time by giving notice in writing to the Vice-Chairman. The Speaker can be removed from his office only by a resolution passed by a majority of the members present in the Lok Sabha.

Election of Speaker of Lok Sabha:

In the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, both the presiding officers, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker are elected by a simple majority of its members present and voting. Although no special qualification has been prescribed for the election of the Speaker and the Constitution only requires that he should be a member of the Assembly. But for a person holding the post of Speaker, it is considered an important quality to have an understanding of the Constitution, the laws of the country, the rules of procedure and the conventions of the Parliament.

Powers and Functions of Speaker of Lok Sabha:

• Presiding over the meetings and maintaining discipline- The most important function of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha is to preside over the meetings of the Lok Sabha and to maintain order in the discipline in the Lok Sabha. Every member of the Lok Sabha has to obey his orders. He also presides over the conference of the presidents of the state legislatures and also appoints the members of the delegations sent abroad.
• Allowing motions- The decision of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha is the final decision in respect of every motion to be introduced in the Lok Sabha. He decides whether the motion can be moved or not. He also decides the reasons sufficient for passing the motion.
• Advising the Leaders- The Speaker of the Lok Sabha helps in determining the program of the Lok Sabha and the sequence of bills by giving advice to the top leaders of the Lok Sabha such as the Prime Minister.
• Powers related to Parliamentary Committees- Some committees are created to carry out the constitutional and smooth functioning of the Parliament. The chairmanship of the Rules Committee and the Business Advisory Committee is also done by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. He also has the right to appoint the chairman of any committee and other committees. If the government refuses to give any document or report to any committee under the guise of secrecy, then the committee can refer that matter to the speaker and the decision of the chairman whether the government records should be shown to the committee or not is considered final.
• Right of Speech - Every speech given in the Lok Sabha is addressed to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. It is the Speaker who decides which member will deliver the speech and which member's speech is relevant or irrelevant.
• To warn the members- The most important function of the Speaker is to maintain the discipline system in the House. If a member of the Lok Sabha disturbs the order, the Speaker can give him a warning and can also compel him to leave the house if necessary. If a member uses unparliamentary language in the House, the Speaker can also force him to withdraw that speech.
• Adjournment of the sitting of the House - One of the most important powers of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha is that if he feels that the atmosphere of the Lok Sabha has reached an unconstitutional and serious stage, he can adjourn the sitting of the House for as long as he wants. Can do.
• Control of audience - Speaker of Lok Sabha can control the attendance of a person who is not a member of the Lok Sabha and is present only as a spectator, or can order or order them to go out of the audience gallery.
• Work related to the convenience of the members- The Speaker has many responsibilities in view of the convenience of the members of the Lok Sabha, he looks after and manages the accommodation, allowances, salary, telephone, transport and other facilities of the members.
• Decision of Finance Bill- The function of the Speaker of Lok Sabha is to decide which Bill is Money Bill and which Bill is Finance Bill. Only the Speaker has the right to differentiate between a special bill and an ordinary one.
• Signing of Bills- The Bill which is passed by the Lok Sabha, can be signed by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha and send it to the Rajya Sabha or the President for consideration and assent as per the requirement.
• Protecting Privileges- The Speaker protects the special rights of the members of the Lok Sabha. It takes special care to protect the rights of the opposing parties so that the majority party cannot arbitrarily on the strength of majority in the house.
• Decision of Ganamurti (Quorum) - For the meeting of the House, it has been decided whether there is a quorum or not, it should also be decided by the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Since the proceedings of the Lok Sabha can never take place in the absence of a quorum, it becomes extremely necessary to ensure that the quorum is always present.
• Taking Votes on Bills - The Speaker of the Lok Sabha asks the members of the House to vote in favor and against that bill, regarding whether a bill is proper or not. When the voting is done, the Speaker also announces the acceptance and rejection of that motion.
• Casting Vote - Whenever voting is done on a resolution in the House and if the voting ratio is equal, then the casting vote of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha becomes the most important. By using his vote, he can vote in favor or against the motion and accept it and reject it.
• To preside over a joint session - Whenever a joint session of both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha is called by the President, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha presides over the joint session.
• Administrative functions - The administrative functions of the Speaker include looking after the security of the House, allowing strangers (spectators) and representatives of newspapers to enter the gallery of the House and transporting the appropriate authority to implement the decisions of the House. No member can be imprisoned in the confines of the House without his permission. He can order the officers to collect any necessary information or information for the House or any committee thereof.

Speaker's position in the Lok Sabha:

The post of Lok Sabha Speaker is a prestigious and apolitical post due to its being based on the parliamentary system. The Speaker is considered the custodian of the prestige and dignity of the House. When he stands up, all the members of the House sit down and no member can leave until he has finished his speech. The member may be annoyed by his statement, but it does not mean that he should obey the order of the Speaker.

Like the speaker of Britain, it is necessary for the speaker of India to keep himself away from party politics. He should protect the interests of the minority section of the opposition party in the House. He should not do anything which makes it appear that he is in favor of the ruling party. He should not be in favor of anyone so that no prejudice is created in his mind unintentionally. In this way the confidence of all the parties in the House in its honesty and impartiality will be earned.

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