Srinagar: Senior National Conference leader and seven-time MLA Abdul Rahim Rather was unanimously chosen as Speaker of Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory's first Assembly on Monday.
The 78-year-old Rather, who has served as a minister under Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, Dr Farooq Abdullah, and Omar Abdullah, was elected after the House convened at 10:30 am. Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Javaid Ahmad Dar, proposed the motion for his selection, with NC’s MLA from Ramban, Arjun Singh Raju, seconding it.
As opposition parties chose not to contest the position, pro-tem Speaker Mubarak Gul announced Rather’s election as Speaker. Following the election, Leader of the House Omar Abdullah and Leader of the Opposition Sunil Sharma escorted him to the Speaker's chair.
Rather had earlier held the post of the speaker in the legislative assembly of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. He was also the leader of the opposition from 2002 to 2008 when the PDP-Congress coalition government ruled the state.
The House met after a gap of more than six years, with the last session held in early 2018, a year before the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories.
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