Om Birla Re-Elected, Breaks 20-Year Lok Sabha Trend

June 5, 2024

Om Birla, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, won the Kota seat by a large majority. This big win makes him the first speaker to be re-elected to the Lower House of Parliament in 20 years. Before Om Birla, the last speaker of the Lok Sabha to be re-elected was P. A. Sangma in the 11th Lok Sabha, which ran from 1996 to 1998. He later won from Tura, Meghalaya in 1998. The next speaker was G M C Balayogi, who held the position until his sudden death in 2002. In 2004, Manohar Joshi of the Shiv Sena lost his place as his successor. After that, Somnath Chatterjee was in charge until he quit before the 2009 general elections.

Recent Speakers and Elections

After Chatterjee, Meira Kumar of the Congress party was speaker from 2009 until she lost her seat in 2014. Sumitra Mahajan then took over, but she didn’t run in the 2019 elections. Om Birla was chosen to speak at the Lok Sabha in 2019 and easily kept his seat in the 2024 elections.

More About Lok Sabha

The Lok Sabha, meaning “House of the People,” is India’s lower house of Parliament. Each Lok Sabha term lasts for five years unless it is disbanded earlier. The Lok Sabha can have up to 552 members, but right now it only has 545. In May 1952, the Lok Sabha met for the very first time. Aside from that, it helps pass the budget and can introduce money bills. The members of the house choose the Speaker, who is the leader of the house. Interestingly, the Lok Sabha has more constitutional power than the Rajya Sabha, especially when it comes to spending and finances. The Lok Sabha is the only body that can vote on whether to trust the government, and it is also the only body that can bring a motion of no-confidence against the government. Also, you have to be 25 years old to be able to run for Lok Sabha.

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