Bhubaneswar: Biju Janata Dal leader and Angul MLA Rajanikant Singh was Thursday elected as the Deputy Speaker of Odisha Assembly with the support of all parties in the state.
Leader of the House and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik proposed the name of Singh for the post of the deputy speaker. The proposal was seconded by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Aarukh.
Speaker Surya Narayan Patro formally declared Singh elected unopposed, as the Opposition BJP and the Congress had not fielded their candidates.
“This will be a challenging role for me as the deputy speaker is bound to perform all the duties of the Speaker in his absence. I will work impartially and follow the rules of procedure of the state Assembly, Parliament and Constitution,” Singh said, after being named for the post.
“I have been into the assembly for 15 years and I will try to render my service on the basis of my experience. The role of the Deputy Speaker is to be neutral. There are well laid-out procedure of conduct of House which I will follow dutifully,” Singh told the media.
Singh had worked as Steel and Mines Minister under Naveen Patnaik government earlier.
He was congratulated by the Leader of Opposition Pradipta Naik, Congress legislature party leader Narasingha Mishra and CPI(M) member Laxman Munda.
