The Hindu : Pandey new Speaker of Chhattisgarh Assembly

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Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003

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Pandey new Speaker of Chhattisgarh Assembly

Raipur Dec 22. Senior leader of ruling BJP, Prem Prakash Pandey, was today elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Chhattisgarh Assembly. Taking over as the second Speaker of the newly carved out state, Pandey emphasised the need for consensus on issues and sought cooperation of all the members for the smooth functioning of the House.

Immediately after the members were administered oath on the opening day of the three-day session, Home Minister Brij Mohan Agrawal moved a proposal that Pandey be elected as the Speaker of the 90-member state Assembly and was seconded by Law Minister Nanki Ram Kanwar. Similar proposals were brought up by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ajay Chandrakar, NCP's Nowel Verma and BJP Member Sanjeev Shah and seconded by Irrigation Minister Hemchand Yadav, Education Minister Vikram Usendi and BJP MLA Vijay Agrawal.

The Leader of the Opposition Mahendra Karma said he was absent when the nominations were filed yesterday and extended his party's support to Pandey. Pro-tem Speaker Rajendra Prasad Shukla then declared Pandey ``elected unopposed and unanimously'' as his was the only nomination for the post and the Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh and Karma escorted him to the chair.

MLAs take oath

Eighty-four members of the new Chhattisgarh Assembly today took oath on the inaugural day of the maiden Assembly session. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh, who is not a member of the House, and former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi did not take the oath.

Leader of Opposition Mahendra Karma was the first to be administered oath as MLA by the Pro-tem Speaker Rajendra Prasad Shukla on the opening day of the three-day session. In the previous Assembly also, because Jogi was not a member of the House when it was convened for the first time, the then leader of opposition Nand Kumar Sai was the first one to take oath. Jogi, who has been suspended from Congress for his alleged attempt to prevent BJP from coming to power and offering bribe to BJP leaders for this purpose, was still camping in New Delhi.

Jogi's supporters Ram Dayal Uikey (Tanakhar MLA), Bodhram Kanwar (Kathghora), Churawan Mangeskar (Jarhagaon) and Udai Mudliyar (Rajnandgaon) were also absent. Law Minister Nankiram Kanwar, PHE Minister Mahesh Baghel, state Minister for Forest Satyanand Rathia and Congress member Mahant Ram Sundar Das took oath in Sanskrit while the remaining members took oath in Hindi. -- PTI

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