BHUBANESWAR: After the swearing-in of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and his council of ministers, the focus is now on the next Speaker of the Assembly.
Sources in the BJP said senior leader and former minister Surama Padhy is likely to be the next Speaker. The saffron party has reportedly zeroed in on Padhy taking her seniority and administrative experience into consideration.
The BJP is also reported to have decided to have a woman as the next Speaker like the BJD. If elected, Padhy will succeed BJD’s Pramila Mallick as the Speaker of the 17th Assembly. Sources said the Speaker will be elected after swearing in of the newly-elected MLAs of the House which is likely to take place this week.
Padhy has won from Ranpur Assembly constituency after three successive defeats from the seat. She defeated Satyanarayan Pradhan of the BJD by a margin of 15,544 votes. She had won from the constituency in 2004 when BJP had an alliance with the BJD. She was also the minister of state for cooperation with independent charge in the Naveen Patnaik-led government.
As the first BJP government in the state will have to face a strong Opposition in BJD, an experienced hand as the Speaker is required for smooth conduct of the budget session of the Assembly. The next session will be important as the government will place the budget. Besides, several key policies are also likely to be announced during the session.