Bhubaneswar: BJD on Wednesday announced the name of Revenue Minister Pramila Mallik as its candidate for the election to the Speaker post of Odisha Legislative Assembly.
According to sources, Mallik will file her nomination papers for election to Speaker post on Thursday. The post has been lying vacant after former Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha was appointed as Finance Minister in the last reshuffle of the Cabinet by chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
The election to the Speaker post will be held at 9.30 am on September 22, coinciding with the beginning of monsoon session of the Assembly that will continue till October 4. The date for filing of nominations for the post has been scheduled on September 21.
Earlier, the election was scheduled to be held on September 21 and filing of nomination on September 18. After opposition BJP and Congress announced to boycott the election as it coincided with Nuakhai, the mass agrarian festival of western Odisha, it was shifted to September 22 and filing of nomination to September 21.
