Lucknow ( Uttar Pradesh): Senior BJP MLA Ramapati Shastri, elected to the Uttar Pradesh assembly for the eighth time in the recent elections, was elected as the pro-tem speaker of the House on Saturday. Shastri, who was administered the oath of office by Governor Anandiben Patel, will preside over the proceeding of the election for the speaker of the newly-constituted assembly on March 29, an assembly secretariat official said on Saturday.
Uttar Pradesh Governor (Anandiben Patel) has fixed March 29 as the date for the election of the Speaker of the 18th legislative assembly, UP assembly's Principal Secretary Pradeep Kumar Dubey said. The election will be held in the assembly pavilion at 3 pm, he added. Announcing the schedule for the poll process, Dubey, in a statement, said March 28 has been fixed as the last date for filing nomination papers for the election to the post of speaker.
Any elected member of the legislative assembly can file a nomination paper proposing the name of another elected member for the election to the post of speaker, he said. It is, however, mandatory for members to take oath before filing nomination papers for election as speaker of the House, he added.
UP Governor Patel administered the oath of office of pro tem speaker to Shastri at the Raj Bhavan. Elected for the eighth term from the Mankapur area of Gonda district, Shastri will administer the oath to the MLAs. Apart from Shastri, four other MLAs too were sworn in to help Shastri. In the recent assembly elections, the results for which were announced on March 10, the BJP got absolute majority in the 403-member assembly, winning 255 seats with its allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) the Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (Nishad) bagging 12 and six seats respectively.
The Samajwadi Party, on the other hand, won 111 seats with its allies Rashtriya Lok Dal and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party bagging eights and six seats respectively. With the BJP gaining majority in the assembly, it would be entitled to have one of its members elected as speaker.
In the last 17th assembly, Hriday Narayan Dixit of the BJP, which had won 325 seats along with its allies, was elected Speaker of the Assembly.
This time Dikshit was not fielded by the BJP in the assembly elections.
There are indications that senior BJP MLA Satish Mahana, elected for the eighth time from the Maharajpur assembly constituency of Kanpur district, may be made the assembly speaker this time. In the previous Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government, Mahana was the industrial development minister but this time he was not sworn in as a minister.
PTI
