BJP leader Prem Kumar set to be elected unopposed as Bihar assembly Speaker
PATNA: Former minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Prem Kumar, who has won the Gaya Town seat for the ninth consecutive term in recent Bihar polls, is set to be elected as Speaker of Bihar legislative assembly unopposed. Kumar filed his nomination papers for the post of assembly Speaker on Monday in the presence of Nitish, Samrat, Vijay and others. The Opposition did not field any candidate against Kumar, paving the way for the latters election as Speaker unopposed. He was officially proposed by the ruling NDA MLAs for the post of coveted post. A formal announcement about him being elected unopposed will be made on Tuesday. JD(U) leader Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, LJP(RV) MLA Raju Tiwari and RLM MLA Madhav Anand were also present at the time of filing nomination papers. Meanwhile, the first session of the 18th Bihar assembly also started with the oath of newly-elected MLAs. Pro-tem Speaker Narendra Narayan Yadav, appointed by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, conducted the oath-taking ceremony inside the House. Several MLAs from the Mithilanchal region, including minister Arun Shankar Prasad, as well as singer and Alinagar legislator Maithili Thakur, who is the youngest in the House, took oath in Maithili, while some of the MLAs belonging to the minority community and Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM opted for Urdu. Katihar MLA and senior BJP leader Tarkishore Prasad, Sonbarsa JDU MLA Ratnesh Sada, and a few others took their oath in Sanskrit. Lok Janshakti Party (RV) legislator Vishnu Deo Paswan took the oath in English. The MLAs appointed as ministers in the new Cabinet were the first to take oath, followed by RJD MLA and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and others. Bihar agriculture minister and BJP Ramkripal Yadav hugged Tejashwi after taking the oath, highlighting his close and cordial relationship with him and his father Lalu Prasad. Before joining BJP in 2014, Ram Kripal was with RJD for more than three decades. This is the first session of the Assembly in which the proceedings will be conducted through the digital medium instead of using paper for the purpose. Tabs connected with Wi-Fi have been installed on the desks of all MLAs in the House. They would be later trained in the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA), which is the digital platform for the state legislatures in the country.
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