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Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Petroleum Minister Ram Naik has emerged as the frontrunner among the party's three potential candidates for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker.
The election for the post will be held on May 10. It was necessitated by the death of incumbent G M C Balayogi in a plane crash.
At present, Deputy Speaker P M Sayeed has been managing the affairs of the House.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), to which he belonged, has declined to put up a candidate to contest the election for the post.
Following this, the BJP is keen to field one of its own MPs. The frontrunners are Ram Naik, Union Culture Minister Jagmohan and party spokesperson V K Malhotra.
Of these, Ram Naik seems to have the edge.
BJP leaders point out that Naik could be 'an ideal choice' because of his acceptability not only in the NDA but also among the opposition parties.
While Naik has generally maintained his composure even in the face of opposition onslaughts, both Jagmohan and Malhotra were prone to confront the NDA's adversaries in the House, BJP's sources told rediff.com.
Besides, Naik's prospects are brightened considerably by his familiarity with parliamentary proceedings, they said.
However, Naik has denied that he is in the race.
NDA constituents have suggested summoning a meeting of the coalition's coordination committee to thrash out the issue.
Samata Party leader and member of the Lok Sabha Prabhunath Singh said that the ruling coalition was seized of the issue.
However, in two recent meetings with the prime minister, BJP MPs have impressed on Vajpayee the need for the BJP to field a candidate in view of the TDP's refusal to do so citing the Gujarat issue and, in the process, embarrass the BJP.
By fielding a candidate, the MPs want to send a message to obdurate allies.
However, NDA coordination committee convener George Fernandes is yet to convey a meeting to discuss the issue.
G M C Balayogi: Death of a Speaker
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