AHMEDABAD: Rajendra Trivedi, the BJP MLA from Vadodara, was today unanimously elected as Speaker of the 14th Gujarat Legislative Assembly on the first day of the Budget session.
Trivedi's name was proposed by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and it was backed by the Congress legislative party, led by the Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani.
After being elected, Trivedi (63) said he would do his best to ensure that every member of the 182-member House gets a chance to put forward the concerns of people who they represent as an MLA.
While Congress MLA Virji Thumar urged the newly-elected Speaker to remember that he is "no longer with the ruling BJP now", another opposition MLA, Punja Vansh asked Trivedi to uphold the sanctity of the post by not favoring the ruling party.
Trivedi was elected from Raopura seat of Vadodara on the BJP ticket.
He had served as Youth and Cultural Affairs Minister in the previous term of the Vijay Rupani government.
Since Speaker cannot have party affiliations, Trivedi had tendered his resignation from the BJP before filing his papers on February 17.