Om Birla

Birla's name was proposed for Speaker after he was re-elected to Lok Sabha for a third term, defeating Congress’s K Suresh in the third-ever Lok Sabha speaker election.

He will once again be contesting the 18th Lok Sabha elections as a BJP candidate from the Kota seat of Rajasthan.

Before being elected to Lok Sabha, Birla served three terms as a legislator in the Rajasthan Assembly. He was elected to the 12th, 13th and 14th state assemblies in 2003, 2008 and 2013 respectively.

Born on November 23, 1962, in Kota, Rajasthan, Birla began his political career at a young age. He graduated from Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati University in Ajmer with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. After graduating, Birla worked as a farmer and social worker.

Active in student politics from an early age, Birla was president of the student union at the Government Senior Secondary School, Gumanpura, in 1979.

Birla has been associated with the BJP since a young age. He served as district president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the party, for four years. He was then appointed as Rajasthan state president of the organisation for six continuous years before being elevated to national vice-president of All India Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha for another six years.

Birla has previously served as director of Coal India, chairman of Rajasthan State Cooperative Consumer Association and vice president of National Cooperative Consumer Association. He was arrested in Uttar Pradesh due to his active participation in Ram Mandir construction movement.