Karia Munda, the Bharatiya Janata Party's tribal leader from Jharkhand, was on Tuesday named by the party as its candidate for the post of deputy speaker of Lok Sabha.
"The BJP's Central Parliamentary Board held a meeting today after the government's proposal -- that as per the convention -- the deputy speaker's post be given to the main opposition party. The Parliamentary Board decided to name six-time party Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha Karia Munda as the candidate for the post," BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said.
Munda, 72, was a minister in the Morarji Desai-led central government and later in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance. He was earlier a Member of Legislative Assembly in Bihar and later in Jharkhand.
When asked whether Munda's candidature was done with the aim of winning tribal support for the party, Jaitley said, "It is true that Munda belongs to the Scheduled Tribe community, but along with that he has a vast legislative experience, and this decision was made considering his seniority."
With Congress nominating its Dalit face Meira Kumar for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker, BJP was expected to field a tribal leader or a member of the Other Backward Class for the post.
BJP sources said Sripad Naik, an OBC from North Goa, was another name being considered by the party for the post. The party was earlier planning to field veteran BJP leader and MP from Indore Sumitra Mahajan, but gave up the idea when Congress nominated Kumar.
