BJP MLA Girish Gautam files nomination for MP Speaker's post


PTI | Bhopal | Updated: 21-02-2021 13:00 IST | Created: 21-02-2021 13:00 IST
BJP MLA Girish Gautam files nomination for MP Speaker's post
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Madhya Pradesh BJP MLA GirishGautam on Sunday filed his nomination papers for the post ofthe state Assembly's Speaker.

He is likely to be elected unopposed as the mainopposition Congress has decided not to field its candidate forthe post.

The post is lying vacant since March last year when NP Prajapati quit as the Speaker following collapse of the thenCongress-led government, after several MLAs resigned from theparty and their Assembly membership.

The BJP subsequently returned to power in the stateunder the leadership of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

At present, BJP MLA Rameshwar Sharma is the protemSpeaker of the state Assembly.

He has been holding the charge since July 2020 aselection for the post could not be organised as two Assemblysessions last year were curtailed while one was cancelled inthe wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gautam, a four-term MLA from Deotalab constituency inRewa district, filed his nomination papers in the stateAssembly secretariat here on Sunday.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, state HomeMinister Narottam Mishra, Agriculture Minister Kamal Patel andother party leaders were present on the occasion.

Meanwhile, former chief minister and state Congresspresident Kamal Nath said his party will not field itscandidate for the post.

''Given the constitutional dignity of the post, we havedecided to fully cooperate and extend our support for anunopposed election to the Speaker's post in the stateAssembly,'' Nath said in a tweet.

In the 230-member MP Assembly, the ruling BJP enjoys acomfortable majority with 126 legislators.

The Congress currently has 96 MLAs, while two seatsare represented by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), one by theSamajwadi Party (SP) and four by Independents.

One Assembly seat Damoh is lying vacant after MLARahul Lodhi resigned from the Congress in October last yearand later joined the BJP.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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