'Approachable' Om Birla is a silent performer

NEW DELHI: Realising that assembly polls in his home state Gujarat in 2017 were not a cakewalk, BJP president Amit Shah had roped in several leaders from other states to campaign for the candidates.
Om Birla was one of them. Lok Sabha MP from Kota-Bundi in Hadauti region of Rajasthan, Birla was tasked to look after the Vaishya-dominated assembly constituencies as he was one of the prominent faces from the community.
His nomination as Lok Sabha Speaker sends out a strong signal to this community, who are traditional BJP voters and who were said to be unhappy in the past over issues like GST implementation.
A silent performer, Birla kept himself away from factionalism even as he was not considered for a ministerial post in his home state despite being a three-term MLA. This besides several other factors went in his favour fetching Birla the nomination - a post to be held by a Rajasthani for the first time and only the second time that a person from the state will hold a constitutional position after former V-P Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. Balram Jakharm who served as Speaker as an MP from Sikar was the first from state to occupy the post but he orginally hailed from Punjab.
His proximity with RSS helped his cause as his official residence in Delhi was often used for hosting RSS events. The BJP chief had launched the social media campaign for Lok Sabha polls from Kota in 2018. Birla's traits like commitment to party, organisational capability and ability to handle tough situations has been rewarded. His nomination has once again come as a surprise. Modi and Shah are known for springing surprise decisions - be it in the appointment of non-Jat Manohar Lal Khattar as Haryana CM or Devendra Fadnavis, a Brahmin, as CM of Maharashtra.