Bhubaneswar: Former minister and senior BJP leader Surama Padhy assumed charge as the Speaker of the Odisha Assembly on Thursday.
Smt Padhy took charge from the pro-tem speaker Sri Ranendra Pratap Swain in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, two Deputy Chief Ministers — Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo and Pravati Parida and other ministers.
The MLAs of all parties, including the Chief Minister, congratulated her. The opposition leader Naveen Patnaik also welcomed her in the Odisha Assembly.
Padhy became the second woman after Pramila Mallik to hold the Speaker post in the Odisha Legislative Assembly.
A lawyer by profession, Surma joined the BJP in 1988. Padhy was first elected to the Odisha Assembly from Ranpur seat in Nayagarh district on a BJP ticket in 2004. She also served as a Minister of State with Independent Charge in the Cooperation Department in the BJD-BJP coalition government in Odisha from 2004 to 2009.
She is a native of Ranpur and completed her Master of Arts in 1982 from the erstwhile Ravenshaw College.
Smt Padhy had filed her nomination paper on Wednesday before Odisha Legislative Assembly Secretary Dasarathi Satpathy. Earlier, the BJP Legislature Party had unanimously decided on Padhy’s name for the post of Speaker.
The BJP has a clear majority in the House with 78 MLAs and the support of three Independents. The BJD has 51 and the Congress has 14 MLAs and both their numbers also do not add up to ensure victory of the Opposition candidate.
