BJP leader Surama Padhy elected unopposed as Odisha Assembly Speaker

Bhubaneswar, June 20 (IANS) Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Surama Padhy was on Thursday elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Odisha Legislative Assembly.Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi moved a motion proposing Padhy's name as the Speaker for the 17th Assembly session which was seconded by the state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling.After the voice vote, pro-tem speaker Ranendra Pratap Swain declared 63-year-old Padhy as the second female speaker of the Odisha Assembly.The new Speaker was later escorted to the chair by CM Majhi, Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik, Deputy Chief Ministers K. V. Singh Deo and Pravati Parida."I am expressing my respect to you all for electing me as the Speaker by unanimously supporting the proposal of CM Majhi. I hail from a humble family. I have never imagined of getting the opportunity to hold such a position in this August House," said Padhy."I will discharge my responsibilities impartially and uphold the dignity of the chair with the help of all the members," added Padhy.While congratulating the new speaker of the Odisha Assembly, CM Majhi said, "After you assume the charge today, I am fully confident that you will uphold the dignity of this August House and run it properly without any bias."Padhy on Wednesday filed nominations for the Speaker's post in the state Assembly. She filed the nomination in the presence of CM Majhi, both the deputy chief ministers and other party leaders.Earlier, Padhy was elected to the state Assembly twice from Ranpur constituency in Nayagarh district during 2004-2009.She was also the Minister of State (Independent charges) for the Department of Co-operation, Odisha during the above period.She won the Ranpur constituency again in 2024 defeating BJD candidate Satyanarayan Pradhan by 15.544 votes.--IANSgyan/svn

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