Bhubaneswar, July 10: The first session of the 17th Odisha legislative assembly which is scheduled to commence from July 22 is likely to witness significant developments including the election of Deputy Speaker.
Former minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Surama Padhy was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the Odisha Legislative Assembly and she now holds the responsibility of presiding over the Assembly proceedings since then.
In this session, the BJP-led government, is tasked with electing the Deputy Speaker of the assembly.
If multiple nominations are filed for the Deputy Speaker post, an election will be held on July 24. While there’s a rare possibility of an election, the ruling party may nominate the candidate for this position.
Several MLAs are in the race for the Deputy Speaker post. Notable names include Bhabani Sankar Bhoi, Sanatan Bijuli, Gobind Das, Narasingh Madkami, Raghuram Machha, and Kahnai Charan Dang.
Consultations have also begun within the BJP regarding the posts of Chief Whip and Deputy Chief Whip.
Prominent MLAs like Padmalochan Panda, Bhaskar Madai, Prakash Soren, Santosh Khatua, Simarani Nayak, and Sidhant Mohaptra are vying for the Chief Whip position.
For the Deputy Chief Whip role, contenders include Amar Nayak, Babu Singh, Tankadhar Tripathy, and Irish Acharya.