BJP MLA Ram Pada Jamatia elected unopposed as Tripura Speaker

Agartala, March 18: BJP MLA Ram Pada Jamatia was elected unopposed as the new Speaker of the Tripura Assembly on Wednesday, filling the vacancy left by the demise of Biswa Bandhu Sen.

Chief Minister Manik Saha proposed Jamatia's name in the Assembly, which was approved by a voice vote amid silence from the Opposition benches.

Apart from BJP MLAs, legislators of Tipra Motha Party (TMP) and the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), allies of the BJP-led coalition government, supported the proposal.

Saha, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ratan Lal Nath, Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury and Congress Legislature Party leader Birajit Sinha escorted Jamatia to the Speaker's chair.

Responding to his election as Speaker, Jamatia expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president Nitin Nabin and BJP state chief Rajib Bhattacharjee for giving him the opportunity.

"I am also thankful to all members, including opposition MLAs. I will try my level best to run the Assembly impartially," he told the press.

Jamatia, a legislator from Bagma constituency in Gomati district, had filed his nomination for the post on Tuesday.

PTI