Bhubaneswar: Ranpur MLA Surama Padhy submitted her nomination papers for the position of Speaker of the Odisha Legislative Assembly today .
Padhy (67) was named as the candidate for the Speaker’s post in the 17th Assembly in Odisha by the BJP after the party formed government in the state by defeating the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD in the 2024 polls.
The elections for the post, if required, are scheduled to take place on 20 June after the oath-taking ceremony of the members of the House.
Padhy, if elected, will be the second woman after Pramila Mallik to hold the Speaker post.
After three successive electoral defeats, Padhy emerged victorious from the Ranpur Assembly constituency in 2024 Assembly polls by defeating her nearest BJD rival Satyanarayan Pradhan by a comfortable margin of 15,544 votes.
Padhy was first elected to the Odisha Assembly from Ranpur segment on a BJP ticket in 2004.
She had also served as a Minister of State with independent charge for the department Cooperation in the BJD-BJP coalition government in Odisha for the second term from 2004 to 2009.
The BJP has won 78 Assembly seats of the total 147 in Odisha in the 2024 elections while the BJD managed to secure 51 seats.