Bhartrihari Mahtab, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Odisha, took oath as the Protem Speaker of the 18th Lok Sabha. President Draupadi Murmu administered the oath to him at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Let us tell you, the Protem Speaker is a temporary post. The primary role of the Protem Speaker is to administer the oath to the new members.
President Draupadi Murmu has appointed the BJP MP as the Protem Speaker under Article 95 (1) of the Constitution. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that Suresh Kodikunnil, Thalikkottai Rajuthevar Balu, Radhamohan Singh, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Sudip Bandopadhyay have also been appointed to assist the Protem Speaker. He further said that Bhartrihari Mahtab will discharge the duties as the presiding officer till the election of the Lok Sabha Speaker.
The opposition has strongly criticized the appointment of Mahtab as temporary speaker. It has been alleged that the government ignored the claim of Congress MP K Suresh for this post. At the same time, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that Mahtab is a seven-time Lok Sabha member, which makes him suitable for this post. He said that Suresh lost the elections in 1998 and 2004, due to which his current term is his fourth consecutive term in the lower house. Earlier, he was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1989, 1991, 1996 and 1999.
Bhartruhari Mahtab left Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and joined BJP before the Lok Sabha elections. He resigned from the party due to dissatisfaction with the recent functioning of the regional party. Mahtab, who has won the Cuttack seat six times since 1998 on a BJD ticket, contested the election on behalf of BJP this time. He defeated BJD's Santarup Mishra by 57 thousand 77 votes. Now he is currently a BJP MP. Let us tell you, the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha
Bhartruhari Mahtab was born on 8 September 1957 in Bhadrak in Agapada district of Odisha. He is the son of Dr. Harekrishna Mahtab, the first Chief Minister of Odisha. He is also a writer along with politics and also contributes to social work. If we talk about his education, he did post graduation in the year 1978 from Ravenshaw College of Utkal University. After this he entered active politics. He contested the Cuttack Lok Sabha election for the first time in 1998 on a BJD ticket and won and reached Parliament. After this, he won consecutively from Cuttack seat in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019. He reached the Lok Sabha by being elected MP from BJD six times.
But there was a stir in the political corridors when Mahtab changed sides this year. On 28 March 2024, he resigned from BJD and joined BJP. However, this did not affect Mahtab's politics. This time he contested from Cuttack on a BJP ticket and defeated BJD's Santarup Mishra by 57077 votes. Thus, he was elected MP for the seventh time.
