Harivansh Narayan Singh set for 3rd term as RS deputy chair amid opposition boycott

New Delhi: Nominated member Harivansh is likely to be elected Rajya Sabha deputy chairman as five notices have been received in his favour and opposition has not given any notice proposing a candidate. Election for the post will take place on Friday.

The office of the deputy chairman, Rajya Sabha, fell vacant after Harivansh's term ended on April 9. He has been a two-term deputy chairman of House and if elected, it will be his third term. The deadline for receipt of notices of motions for the election was 12 noon on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the opposition has decided to boycott the deputy chairman's election, with Congress MP Jairam Ramesh citing three reasons. "First, Modi Govt has not appointed a deputy speaker in Lok Sabha for seven years. This has never happened before," he said on X.

Ramesh next highlighted that while Harivansh's second term as the deputy chairman ended on April 9, he was nominated as a member of Rajya Sabha just a day later by President and is now NDA's candidate for deputy chairman for a third term. "Never before has a person nominated by the President to Rajya Sabha been considered for the post of its deputy chairman," the Congress spokesperson said.

"Third, all this is being done without any meaningful consultations with the opposition," he added. "For these three reasons and as a mark of protest - but not with any disrespect to the very learned Shri Harivansh - the opposition has regretfully decided to boycott the election of the deputy chairman," Ramesh said.

The RS MP added that the opposition hopes that "Harivansh 3.0 will be more accommodative of and receptive to the requests of opposition".
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