Delhi: Samajwadi Party to convene meeting tomorrow ahead of beginning of Parliament session

New Delhi [India], June 23 (ANI): The Samajwadi Party (SP) will convene a crucial meeting of its MPs at the Parliamentary Party Office at the Parliament House in Delhi at 10 a.m. tomorrow before the commencement of the first Parliament session, after the conclusion of the Lok Sabha polls 2024, sources said.

The meeting will be held under the chairmanship of party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

The party will prepare strategies regarding the Parliament session and the upcoming Lok Sabha speaker poll, which is scheduled to be held on June 26.

Meanwhile, BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, who has been appointed as the pro-tem speaker, will administer the oath to newly elected members and oversee the proceedings of the House.

However, the Congress has reacted sharply to the central government's decision to appoint seven-term BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab as Pro-tem Speaker of Lok Sabha over senior-most Dalit MP Kodikkunnil Suresh of Congress, saying that the appointment by the BJP deviates from the traditional practice of appointing the senior member.

Earlier on Thursday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced that President Droupadi Murmu appointed BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab as pro tem Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha.

President Murmu also appointed Suresh Kodikunnil, Thalikkottai Rajuthevar Baalu, Radha Mohan Singh, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Sudip Bandyopadhyay to assist the Speaker Protem in oath taking of the newly-elected members.

This is the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha post the general elections, which saw the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) bagging 293 seats and the INDIA bloc 234.

The Rajya Sabha session will begin on June 27. (ANI)