Tribal leader Ram Pada Jamatia takes Tripura assembly Speaker’s chair unopposed

Guwahati: Senior BJP legislator Ram Pada Jamatia was on Wednesday elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Tripura Assembly.

The ruling BJP and its allies -- Tipra Motha Party (TMP) and Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) -- proposed his name on March 12, Jamatia filed his nomination for the Speaker’s post.

The election for the new Speaker became necessary following the death of the sitting Speaker, Biswa Bandhu Sen, on December 26 last year.


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Acting Speaker Ram Prasad Paul announced in the House that Jamatia was the sole candidate to file nomination papers, and with no other contenders, he was declared elected unopposed.

Subsequently, Chief Minister Manik Saha, Leader of Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury, Congress Legislature Party leader and former Minister Birajit Sinha, TMP and IPFT leaders and Chief Whip Kalyani Saha Roy, along with other leaders, escorted Jamatia to the Speaker’s chair.

Jamatia earlier served as Minister of Tribal Welfare and Industry and Commerce (Handloom, Handicrafts and Sericulture) from 2022 to 2023.

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He is the second tribal leader to serve as Speaker of the Tripura Legislative Assembly since the Northeastern state attained full statehood in 1972, following Sudhanwa Debbarma, who held the post from 1978 to 1983.