Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Wednesday named senior party leader Pramila Mallik as its candidate for the election of the Assembly Speaker.
If wins, Pramila Mallik, who is currently serving as revenue & disaster management minister, will be the first woman Speaker of the Odisha Assembly.
The six-time MLA had contested the State assembly election for the first time in 1990 on a Janata Dal ticket. Later, she won the elections in 2000, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019 on the BJD ticket.
Election for the Odisha Assembly Speaker will be held on September 22, the day on which the monsoon session of the Assembly begins.
The opposition BJP and the Congress decided to boycott the Odisha Assembly Speaker’s election scheduled on September 21 due to the Nuakhai festival. Following this, the govt deferred to election to September 2.
The election for the post of Speaker will be held at 9.30 a.m. on September 22. The date for filing of nominations for the Speaker’s post has also been rescheduled to September 21 from September 18.
