Rishikesh MLA to be Speaker

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 22

Decks have been cleared for the election of three time BJP MLA from Rishikesh Prem Chand Aggarwal as Speaker of the fourth general Assembly of Uttarakhand.

Aggarwal today filed his nomination as the BJP legislative party candidate for the post of Speaker of the state Assembly.

He filed 16 set of papers before the Secretary Vidhan Sabha Jagdish Chander. Till 5 pm no other candidate filed papers for the post. Tomorrow, Aggarwal will be installed as the Speaker by pro tem speaker Harbans Kapoor.

Lacking in numbers, the Congress did not field any candidate paving the way for the unopposed election of Aggarwal. He will take over as the Speaker of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly tomorrow, when the formal announcement will be made.

Aggarwal, while submitting his nomination papers, said he would live up to the expectations of both Treasury and Opposition benches. “I will try to live up to the expectations of my party,” he said.

Cabinet Minister Prakash Pant said the BJP as a goodwill gesture approached the Congress to submit one set of papers in favour of Aggarwal, but the party declined the offer. “Even if the elections are held for the post of Speaker, we will be able to win. We have the requisite numbers unlike in 2012 when the Congress had one more seat than our party. As an act of goodwill we had suggested to the Congress to support Aggarwal,” said Pant.

Meanwhile, supporters of BJP MLA Harbans Kapoor held a protest outside the residence of state BJP chief Ajay Bhatt and demanded that he may be accommodated in the Cabinet.

“I told the supporters not to protest lest they jeopardise the chances of Harbans Kapoor,” said Ajay Bhatt.

Meanwhile, the first session of Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly will commence on February 24, during which the government will bring a vote on account on February 27, that will take care of the budgetary needs of the state for four months after which a regular budget will be brought. They are also likely to appoint Raghunath Singh Chauhan, MLA from Almora as the Deputy Speaker of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly.