S N Patro elected as Odisha assembly speaker

BHUBANESWAR: Ruling BJD heavyweight Surjya Narayan Patro was unanimously elected as the speaker of the 16th Odisha Assembly on Saturday.nnThe seven-time legislator’s name was proposed by Leader of the House and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and seconded by Parliamentary Affairs Minister B K Arukha.nnThere was no other candidate for the post of speaker, Protem Speaker Amar Prasad Satpathy said.nnOpposition BJP members were not present in the assembly when Satpathy announced Patro’s name as the speaker, though one of them reached the House soon after.nnPatro, 70, was escorted to the Speaker’s podium by the chief minister and senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra.nn”I congratulate the new speaker,” Patnaik said.nnMishra said, “We hope the new speaker will function above political considerations and give protection to the opposition to further strengthen democracy.”nn”I am happy that the House elected me to the post of the speaker unanimously. I thank the leader of the house and chief minister, and all the MLAs for their cooperation,” said Patro, who became the 22nd speaker of the Odisha assembly.nnAs the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has 112 MLAs in the 147-member assembly, the election to the post of speaker was a mere formality.nnWhile the BJP has 23 MLAs, nine belonged to the Congress, the CPI(M) bagged one seat and there is an Independent member.nnBJP MLA K Narayan Rao said, “We have not boycotted the speaker election. Most of the BJP MLAs had been to Delhi to attend the swearing-in of the NDA government on May 30 and could not return in time to attend the House proceedings today.”nnRao said, “Most of the BJP MLAs had been to Delhi to attend the swearing in ceremony of the NDA government on May 30 and could not return in time.”nnPatro was elected to assembly seven times from Ganjam district. He represented Mohana seat four times and got elected from Digapahandi thrice, including the recently held polls.nnHe was first elected to the assembly in 1990 on Janata Dal ticket from Mohana and continued to win all the elections since then.nnPatro has served as minister of different departments in the governments headed by Biju Patnaik and Naveen Patnaik.nnIn the previous government, Patro was food supplies and consumer welfare minister.nnSource: Press Trust of India