New Delhi: Congress's K Suresh will be named the pro tem speaker when the 18th parliament is convened and will administer the oath of office to MPs till a formal decision on the Speaker's post is taken by the government, sources have said.
Mr Suresh, the 68-year-old MP from Kerala's Mavelikara, is the longest-serving member of parliament. He will be administered the oath of office by President Droupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhavan before parliament is convened on June 24.
He, in turn, will administer the oath to the Prime Minister's Council of Ministers and other MPs.
The government is likely to name the Speaker of the Lok Sabha on June 26, sources have told NDTV.
Several names are doing the rounds, including that of Om Birla, who was the Speaker in the last term, Bhatruhari Mahtab and D Purandeshwari -- leaders from the two states that top the BJP's 'thank you list'.
Mr Mahtab is a key Odisha leader who joined the BJP from Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal. Ms Purandeshwari is the chief of the party's Andhra Pradesh unit.
Both are states where the BJP achieved spectacular results in the recently concluded general elections. In a first, the party has formed the state government in Odisha as well, ending the 24-year rule of the BJD.
Sources said on June 26, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will move the motion on the name of the Speaker. After the motion is accepted, he would introduce his Council of Ministers to the House.