Why BJP in minority fields candidate for Speaker in MP assembly?

BHOPAL: Taking a serious objection to the appointment of pro-tem Speaker, the main opposition BJP on Monday entered the race for the post of assembly Speaker fielding the party’s senior tribal leader, Vijay Shah against Congress’ Narmada Prasad Prajapati, who filed his nomination in the presence of chief minister Kamal Nath in the morning.
The matter was raised in the house by former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on the first day saying, “There used to be a tradition followed by all ruling parties that pro-tem Speaker in the new assembly is always the senior-most MLA. However, appointing Deepak Saxena, Congress broke this tradition”, said Chouhan.
Later, he accompanied Vijay Shah who filed his nomination for the post of Speaker against Congress candidate. Shah said that he would be the first MLA to test the strength and power of newly-formed Congress government in the house.
“The name of Speaker has been decided by the party and this is a collective decision. If they say BJP has no full majority, I must say that even Congress is also a minor government. The party would decide the next step but, I will be the first person to test the waters of Congress government in the house”, claimed Shah refusing to comment on a possibility of his withdrawing the name.
BJP state president Rakesh Singh also reacted on Congress decision to appoint pro-tem Speaker. He said, “The state has a long history of tradition in the democratic setup. But, the Congress has deviated from the established traditions may it be the recital of Vande Matram or appointment of pro-tem Speaker in the assembly. Normally, the senior-most MLA in the newly elected assembly should have been appointed as Speaker, irrespective of any party. But Congress broke the tradition hence, we decided to field our candidate Vijay Shah for the post of Speaker, Singh told reporters.
He said during NDA regime, the newly-elected chief minister Kamal Nath, the senior-most member of Parliament, was the Lok Sabha’s pro-tem speaker. Here, Congress cannot claim to be a full majority government, he added.
After filing nomination, the BJP cannot withdraw the name unless the proposal reaches the floor for a final election. Principal secretary of Vidhan Sabha, AP Singh told TOI that to withdraw the name the nominee will have to submit a proposal with the pro-tem Speaker in the house during the election process.
In the 230-member house, Congress with 114 MLAs, two short of the majority, formed the government with the support of four Independent, one SP and two BSP MLAs while BJP has 109 MLAs.