The Trinamool Congress (TMC) will support Congress leader K Suresh in the election for Lok Sabha Speaker slated for today. The TMC had on Tuesday said it was not consulted on INDIA bloc’s decision to filed K Suresh against NDA pick Om Birla, a three-time MP and Speaker in the last Lok Sabha. Congress on its part said that it was a last-minute decision and there was barely any time for consultations.

Calling the decision “unilateral”, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and Trinamool MP Abhishek Banerjee said, “We were not contacted about this, there was no discussion. Unfortunately, this is a unilateral decision.”

TMC leaders Derek O’Brien and Kalyan Banerjee, however, attended an INDIA bloc meeting last evening where “everything cleared up”.

The Speaker is elected by a simple majority. The candidate who receives more than half of the votes from the members present in the house becomes the Speaker. Seven MPs are yet to take their oaths and the Wayanad seat in Kerala has been vacated by Rahul Gandhi. Of the 543 members, 535 MPs are eligible to vote today, and 268 is the majority mark. Om Birla already has the support of 293 MPs and four MPs from Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party. The BJP has reached out to other MPs to cross the 300-mark.

The Opposition, on the other hand, has forced a contest to make a political point. Congress heavyweight and eight-term MP K Suresh has the support of 233 MPs (including Trinamool’s 29), 35 less than the majority mark.

The Congress had made it clear that if the government expected a consensus on its choice for the Lok Sabha Speaker, the Deputy Speaker must come from the Opposition. The Deputy Speaker’s post is traditionally given to the Opposition.

BJP leaders claimed such conditions won’t work. Sources said the BJP will decide on the Deputy Speaker’s post at a later stage.