Sumitra elected Lok Sabha speaker

FE Team | Published: June 07, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: June 06, 2014 20:54:08

Sumitra Mahajan

NEW DELHI, June 6 (agencies): BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan, an eight-time member of parliament, was Friday unanimously elected Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha.
The name of Mahajan, MP from Indore, was proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and seconded by BJP patriarch L.K. Advani and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and many others, cutting across party lines.
Earlier, after the oath-taking of the remaining MPs ended as soon as the house assembled, pro-tem Speaker Kamal Nath took up the motion of election of the speaker.
He said he had received 19 notices for election of the speaker.
Then Prime Minister Modi got up to propose Mahajan's name for speaker.
Mahajan is the second woman speaker of the Lok Sabha after Meira Kumar, who as speaker presided over the 15th Lok Sabha.
After Mahajan's election, Modi said the election of the speaker has taken place according to the highest traditions of parliament.
Meanwhile: : Japan could be the first foreign destination for new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese media reported Friday, suggesting the trip could happen as early as this month.
Coming top of Modi's travel itinerary would mark a diplomatic coup for Japan, whose Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is looking to boost his country's influence on the global stage and shore up regional alliances to counter the growing strength of China.
Modi took office in May after sweeping to power on a huge popular vote and a pledge to invigorate India's tepid economy, whose more-than-billion-strong population promises a huge potential market.
"Prime Minister Abe has invited new Prime Minister Modi to visit Japan, and the two countries are making final adjustments for that," top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told a press conference Friday in Tokyo.