A view of the Indian Parliament.
The Lok Sabha will elect a Deputy Speaker on Wednesday, if there is more than one candidate for the post. The BJP-led NDA government is expected to field M Thambidurai from J Jayalalithaa's AIADMK, with an eye on the party's support in the other house, the Rajya Sabha.
The process of filing nominations for the post will be held tomorrow.
The BJP plans a quid pro quo for the post going to the AIADMK. While the NDA has a comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha, it needs all the support it can garner in the Rajya Sabha, where it is in a minority. The AIADMK has 10 members in the Rajya Sabha.
If the BJP and AIADMK stitch a deal, the Narendra Modi government's numbers in Rajya Sabha will go up for crucial bills like foreign direct investment in insurance and judges' appointment.
The BJP has 46 MPs in the 250-member Rajya Sabha and its allies have another 19. It will need at least 125 for a simple majority.
In the Lok Sabha, the AIADMK, with 37 members, is the third largest party. It has just seven members less than the Congress' 44 and its support on important legislation would help weaken the ranks of the opposition.
Ms Jayalalithaa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi traded barbs during the general election, but as soon as they had registered their big victories, they reached out and congratulated each other in May this year.
Mr Thambidurai is the leader of the AIADMK in the Lok Sabha. He was deputy Speaker from 1985 to 1989 and held various ministerial posts in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
The deputy speaker presides over house proceedings and conducts business in the absence of the speaker. By convention, the post is usually offered to a member of an opposition party.