DEPUTY SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY

• Recently, an MLA from UP was elected Deputy Speaker of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
• Article 93 of the Constitution provides for the election of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
• Article 178 contains the corresponding position for Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of a state.

Important points:

• The Deputy Speaker is elected by the Lok Sabha from amongst its members right after the election of the Speaker has taken place.
• The date of election of the Deputy Speaker is fixed by the Speaker (date of election of the Speaker is fixed by the President).
• The institutions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker originated in India in 1921 under the provisions of the Government of India Act of 1919 (Montague-Chelmsford Reforms).
• At that time, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker were called the President and Deputy President respectively and the same nomenclature continued till 1947.
• The practice in both Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies has been to elect the Speaker during the (mostly short) first session of the new House usually on the third day after oath-taking and affirmations take place over the first two days.
• The election of the Deputy Speaker usually takes place in the second session, even though there is no bar on having this election too in the first session of the new Lok Sabha/Assembly.
• But the election of Deputy Speaker is generally not delayed beyond the second session without genuine and unavoidable constraints.
• In Lok Sabha, the election of Deputy Speaker is governed by Rule 8 of The Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.
• Once elected, the Deputy Speaker usually continues in office until the dissolution of the House.
• Like the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker remains in office usually during the life of the Lok Sabha (5 years).

The Deputy Speaker may vacate his/her office earlier in any of the following three cases:

1. If he ceases to be a member of the Lok Sabha.
2. If he resigns by writing to the Speaker.
3. If he is removed by a resolution passed by a majority of all the then members of the Lok Sabha.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT