NEW DELHI: Six-time BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht was on Thursday elected deputy speaker of the Delhi Assembly after Chief Minister Rekha Gupta proposed his name.
The motion moved by Gupta was seconded by Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa while Gajender Singh Yadav backed a second motion proposed by Anil Kumar Sharma.
In an emotional address, Bisht thanked the members for his election and said he would ensure the assembly’s rules and norms were followed.
Tough actions are needed if the rulebook is to be followed, he added.
The 67-year-old BJP veteran defeated AAP’s Adeel Ahmad Khan by more than 17,000 votes from Mustafabad in the recent elections. Before Mustafabad, he represented the Karawal Nagar seat from 1998 to 2015. He was re-elected from Karawal Nagar in 2020.
Following his election as deputy speaker, Chief Minister Gupta escorted Bisht to the speaker’s chair where he was greeted by Speaker Vijender Gupta. The maiden session of the eighth Delhi Assembly is currently underway.
The BJP returned to power in the capital after more than 26 years, securing 48 seats in the 70-member House while AAP, which governed Delhi for 10 years, was reduced to 22. The Congress failed to win a single seat for the third consecutive time.