NEW DELHI, March 21: Why has the Bharatiya Janata Party not been able to name its candidate to chair the 12th Lok Sabha? While one reason is that it doesn't have the numbers yet to ensure a clear victory for its candidate, the other reason is that senior MPs who had been approached by the party preferred ministerial berths over the Speaker's post.In fact, veteran MP Ram Naik even agreed to take a Minister of State portfolio while he declined to be considered for the Speaker's post. Earlier, Naik had wanted a Cabinet berth, preferably Railways, but the party said its quota in the Cabinet was over. Sources said a section of the Maharashtra BJP, owing allegiance to Pramod Mahajan, had resisted the move.Their reasoning: Naik's entry with a Cabinet rank could jeopardise Mahajan's chances of being inducted into the Cabinet via the Rajya Sabha route. ``I want to do something as a Minister,'' Naik said after his swearing-in although he did express his displeasure, in private, to his supporters fromMumbai.Naik isn't the only one to have declined the Speaker's chair. Akali leader SS Barnala also turned down Atal Behari Vajpayee's request to become the Speaker saying he could do more for his Parliamentary constituency as a minister than as a Speaker.That's one reason perhaps why when BJP president and Home Minister LK Advani spoke to Congress president Sonia Gandhi for the need to have a consensus on the Speaker's post, he did not say who he had in mind.Even Sushma Swaraj, a BJP general secretary, defied both Vajpayee and Advani's request to be the Speaker and insisted on a ministerial berth. This apparent devaluation of the Speaker's role - there was a time when Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru used to call on first Speaker Mavalankar - ironically comes at a time when there's a hung Parliament and the action of a Speaker is crucial.The BJP-led minority government can hardly afford to concede the post to the Congress or other parties unless there's no choice. So despite the fact that the BJP``likes'' the way P A Sangma conducted himself - Vajpayee praised him at a meeting - the party is still keen to have its own man.The one BJP name - and the least preferred - that's doing the rounds is that of Mallikarjunaiah, the party's MP from Karnataka. As deputy Speaker of the 10th Lok Sabha (1991-96), he created no ripples but seems to be the only person willing to be considered for the post. His name will be formally announced only if the BJP musters the numbers. This will largely depend upon whether the 12-member Telugu Desam and more than half a dozen North East non-Congress MPs support the BJP and its allies.
