New Delhi: Senior Biju Janata Dal leader Pramila Malik was elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Odisha Assembly on September 22, becoming the first woman to hold the coveted post.
Speaker-in-charge Rajnikant Singh announced the election of Ms Mallick as the first woman Speaker of the Odisha Assembly at a special session held before the beginning of the monsoon session of the House.
Opposition BJP and Congress did not field any candidate for the post of President.
House leader and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik moved a motion to appoint Ms Mallick as Speaker, which was seconded by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Niranjan Pujari.
Later, Mr Patnaik, opposition BJP chief whip Mohan Majhi, Congress legislature party leader Narsingh Mishra and other senior members accompanied Ms Malik to take the seat as Speaker of the House.
In her maiden speech in the House, Ms. Mallik thanked all the members and sought their cooperation for the smooth conduct of the proceedings. Ms. Mallik said that she will try her best to maintain the dignity of the House.
Mr Patnaik thanked Ms Malik for becoming the first woman Speaker of the Odisha Assembly and expressed confidence in her ability. She has been an MLA, a minister and a government chief whip, Mr Patnaik said, adding that her vast experience will help her in carrying out the responsibilities as Speaker.
Congress legislature party leader Narsingh Mishra congratulated her and expressed hope that she would work impartially and provide protection to opposition members in the face of the ruling party’s “ruthless” majority in the House.
Mr Mishra said, “I have known him since 1990 when we were both elected to OLA and saw him serve as a minister and government chief whip. I expect him to act impartially as a president.” Will stay.”
BJP chief whip Mohan Majhi said his party was proud of Ms Malik for being the first woman to become the president of Ola.
Ms Mallik, a six-time MLA from the reserved (SC) Binjharpur assembly constituency in Jajpur district, on Thursday resigned from the post of Revenue and Disaster Management Minister and filed her nomination as the BJD candidate for the post of Speaker. However, she was the only candidate in the election as the opposition BJP and Congress did not field anyone against her.
The post of Speaker in the Odisha Assembly had become vacant after the resignation of Bikram Keshari Arukha in May this year.
Although it was earlier announced that the election for the post of Speaker would be held on September 21, it was later rescheduled to September 22 as the opposition Congress and BJP demanded voting on September 21 citing the ‘Nuakhai’ festival in Odisha. Threatened to boycott. ,
Ms Mallik made her Assembly debut in 1990 as a Janata Dal MLA from Binjharpur. She later joined BJD and has been winning assembly elections five consecutive times since 2000. She served as the Minister of Women and Child Development from 2004 to 2011. And was also the Government Chief Whip for three years from May 30, 2019 to June 6, 2022. She later became the Minister of Revenue and Disaster Management before being elected Speaker.
Senior MLA and party vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra said the BJD has reaffirmed its commitment towards women empowerment as the party has made a Dalit woman the first speaker of the assembly.
