Niranjan Pujari new Odisha Assembly Speaker

BHUBANESWAR: Senior BJD leader and former Odisha minister Niranjan Pujari was elected unopposed as the Speaker of the State Assembly.

Election for Pujari as Speaker without contest was a mere formality as no other candidate had filed nomination papers for the Speaker election.

Pujari, a four-time MLA, was escorted to his chair by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and others soon after protem speaker Sugnan Kumari Deo declared his election as the speaker of the 15th Odisha legislative assembly.

Senior Congress leader and MLA from Jeypore, Tara Prasad Bahinipati congratulated Pujari on his election to the prestigious post.

BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik had on Saturday proposed Pujari's name for the post of Speaker before the Assembly secretary while Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh seconded the proposal.

Patnaik picked Pujari's name among a number of contenders. He was the industries minister in the previous government.

Pujari, who won the recent Assembly polls from Sonepur constituency, has been a member of the House in 12th, 13th, 14th and now in the 15th Assembly.