Om Birla unanimously elected India's lower house Speaker

New Delhi: Indian Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmaker Om Birla was unanimously chose to become the 17th Speaker of the lower house, the Lok Sabha.

Birla succeeds Sumitra Mahajan, who chose not to contest this year's Lok Sabha polls.

The representative of the Kota-Bundi constituency in the state of Rajasthan was congratulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Modi said, "It is a matter of great pride for the House and we all congratulate Birla on being unanimously elected as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

"Many MPs know Shri Om Birla Ji well."

"Shri Om Birla Ji has been in public life for years. He began as a student leader and has been serving society since then, without a break," Modi stated in the Lok Sabha.

"Shri Om Birla's life has been devoted to service. I cannot forget how he stayed in Kutch for months when that part of Gujarat was affected by a devastating quake. In the same way, he stayed in Kedarnath for months when there were floods."