Oppn forces election, fields K Suresh as its candidate for LS Speaker's post
New Delhi, Jun 25 (PTI) Accusing the ruling National Democratic Alliance of not following the convention of giving Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker's position to the opposition, the INDIA bloc on Tuesday fielded Congress leader K Suresh as its candidate for the Speaker's position against Om Birla.
Congress leader K C Venugopal and DMK's T R Baalu walked out of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's office, refusing to endorse NDA candidate Birla without being offered the Deputy Speaker's position.
Venugopal said the BJP refused to give a commitment on offering the Deputy Speaker's post to the opposition.
Union ministers Amit Shah and J P Nadda besides Singh tried to persuade opposition leaders to endorse the NDA nominee but in vain.
Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Lalan Singh accused the Congress of putting up conditions, adding the ruling alliance was willing to discuss their demand when the election for Deputy Speaker's takes place.
Sources said over 10 sets of nominations were filed in support of Birla's candidature, including from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Shah, Singh and Nadda, and BJP allies like TDP, JD(U), JD(S) and LJP (R).
Three sets of nominations were filed in support of Suresh, a Dalit leader and eight-term MP.
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J&K: One dead, seven hospitalised after consuming wild vegetable in Rajouri
Rajouri/Jammu (PTI): One person died while seven others, mostly children, were hospitalised after allegedly consuming a wild vegetable in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, officials said on Saturday.
The incident was reported from Mohra village in the Kotranka subdivision, where members of two families consumed a wild vegetable following which they started showing symptoms of food poisoning on Friday evening, they said.
The affected persons were initially shifted to the Community Health Centre in Kandi and later referred to the Government Medical College Hospital Rajouri for specialised treatment.
Officials said an elderly man, identified as Mohammad Hussain (60), died during treatment, while seven other members of the two families are undergoing treatment at the hospital.
“Prima facie, it is a case of food poisoning, but the matter is still under investigation,” a doctor said.
Officials said an investigation into the incident has been initiated to determine the exact cause of the poisoning.
