Bhubaneswar: Senior BJD leader Ranendra Pratap Swain has been appointed as the Pro-tem speaker, who will administer the oath of office and secretary to all the elected members of the Odisha Legislative Assembly.
The Pro-tem Speaker is the temporary speaker who presides over the first meeting after the election.
Usually, the senior-most member of the Assembly is unanimously elected to the post by the members of the Legislative Assembly to perform the duty till a permanent Speaker is chosen. Once the new Speaker is elected, the office of the Pro-tem speaker ceases to exist.
The main function of the Pro-tem speaker is to administer the oath of office to new members of the State Assembly. He also enables the House to elect the new Speaker and administers the floor test.
Swain, who is elected for a record sixth time from Athagarh constituency, is one of the senior-most members of the State Assembly.
