BHUBANESWAR: With formation of the Council of Ministers over, the focus is now on election of new Speaker for Odisha Legislative Assembly on May 26.
On Thursday, 10-time legislator V Sugnana Kumari Deo was sworn in as the pro-tem Speaker of Odisha Assembly by Governor SC Jamir at the Governor House in presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Deo will administer the oath to newly elected members of the Assembly on May 23 and 24.
As BJD has bagged 117 seats in the Assembly, Congress and BJP are not likely to field any candidate for the post of Speaker.
However, names of several BJD legislators are doing the rounds for the post. Among them, the frontrunners are former ministers Niranjan Pujari, Bed Prakash Agrawal, Pramila Mallik and party MLA from Parjanga Nrusingha Charan Sahu.
Pujari, who was elected from Sonepur segment, was one of the three Cabinet ministers from the last ministry who were not included in the new ministry besides Maheswar Mohanty and Surya Narayan Patro.
One of the senior members of the Assembly, Agrawal was once again ignored by Naveen this time.
If the Speaker’s post goes to a woman, the president of Biju Mahila Janata Dal and former minister Pramila Mallik is likely to get the prestigious post.
Several other senior party leaders who have been elected to the Assembly are also waiting in the wings after not being inducted into the Ministry.
They are former minister Padmanabha Behera, Mangala Kissan, Pravat Kumar Tripathy, Amar Prasad Satpathy, Ramesh Chandra Chau Patnaik, Jugal Kishore Patnaik and Prafulla Samal.
Besides, Sashi Bhusan Behera and Rabi Narayan Mohapatra, who have been Rajya Sabha members, have also been elected to the Assembly.
Sources said the name of the new Speaker will be announced by the BJD on May 26, hours before the election by the Assembly members.