Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to initiate the process of electing the deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha without further delay.

The position, he said, has remained vacant for two consecutive terms, a first in independent India’s history.

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“From the first to the sixteenth Lok Sabha, every House has had a deputy speaker. By and large, it has been a well-established convention to appoint the Deputy Speaker from among the members of the principal opposition party,” Kharge said in a post on X.

In his letter, he also highlighted that Article 93 of the Constitution mandates the election of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the House of the People.

He stressed that keeping the position vacant violates constitutional provisions and undermines India’s democratic principles.

Kharge also pointed out that the well-established convention of having a Deputy Speaker in the Lok Sabha, has been disregarded for the 17th and 18th Lok Sabha terms. “Deputy Speaker plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance of power in the Lok Sabha,” he said.

Kharge’s request assumes significance as it comes ahead of Parliament’s Monsoon session, scheduled to start on July 21.