M Thambidurai of the All India Dravida Munetra Kazhagam is set to be elected unopposed as deputy speaker of Lok Sabha after all major parties, including Congress, extended support to his candidature.
Thambidurai on Tuesday filed his nomination for the post and the first nomination paper was proposed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and seconded by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
Later, the Congress also lent its support and its leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge proposed a set of nomination papers in his support and Jyotiraditya Scindia supported it.
The election for the post is scheduled for Wednesday. Official sources said at least eight more set of nominations papers are being filed in his support by National Democratic Alliance allies such as the Telugu Desam Party, Shiv Sena, the Lok Janshakti Party as well as non-NDA parties such as the Biju Janata Dal, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the YSR Congress, the Trinamool Congress TMC and the Samajwadi Party.
Earlier, AIADMK members of Parliament, including Thambidurai, met Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu in the latter's chamber and he emerged as the ruling party's choice for the post.
The AIADMK with 37 MPs is the third largest party in Lok Sabha after the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress, which have 279 and 44 members respectively.
