As now the Union Cabinet has been announced, fresh speculation has now begun over securing the Lok Sabha Speaker's post.

While the BJP would definitely want to retain the post, its allies in the NDA will bargain hard to get the post, especially since both 'kingmakers' JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar and TDP president Chandrababu Naidu have settled for 1 Cabinet berth each.

Even INDIA bloc parties, Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Aam Aadmi Party have advised the BJP's partners to negotiate with the BJP for the Speaker's post.

But why is the post of Speaker is so important?

The Speaker is a key Constitutional post who has several powers crucial to the functioning of the democracy. The Speaker decides when a question in the Lok Sabha can be asked, or when a debate/discussion can take place.

The Speaker has the power to expunge remarks of MPs as was done in the case of Rahul Gandhi in August 2023.

The Speaker also has the power to disqualify, suspend, and expel members of the house for a number of reasons at his discretion. In the 2023 Winter Session, 100 MPs were suspended between December 14 and 21 and one Lok Sabha member, Mahua Moitra, was expelled on grounds of ethical misconduct.

The Speaker can pass Bills based on voice votes and even vote to break a 'tie'.

While the TDP, which has 16 MPs in Lok Sabha, has settled for 1 Cabinet berth and 1 Minister of State berth, it will want to keep the Speaker's post for itself. Nitish Kumar's JD-U, which got a similar deal in the government, too, will be eyeing the crucial post to prevent the BJP from any attempt to sabotage its balance in the NDA. The BJP, on the other hand, will want to retain the post, which was held by Om Birla for the last five years and Sumitra Mahajan before him.

The frontrunners for the Speaker's post this year are BJP's Daggubati Purandeswari and TDP's GM Harish Madhur.