Government may offer BJD LS deputy Speaker’s post

NEW DELHI: Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday amid speculation that the government may offer the Lok Sabha’s deputy Speaker’s post to Biju Janata Dal.
The government has to decide on the deputy Speaker’s post as AIADMK, which held it in the last Lok Sabha, was routed in the recent elections. The government had offered the post to AIADMK after the 2014 elections at a time when the party was not an ally of the BJP. AIADMK’s M Thambi Durai held the post.
With Congress failing to win enough seats to claim the leader of opposition’s post, it does not seem likely that the government will make an offer on its own. The government is also unlikely to offer the deputy Speaker’s post to Congress.