Other political parties assures full support
Srinagar, May 10 (KNS): Senior BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh was Thursday elected as Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.
Though the opposition has nominated Usman Majeed as the opposition candidate, Dr Singh got the maximum votes.
According to KNS correspondent, Minister for Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs, Syed Basharat Ahmed Bukhari moved the motion for election of Nirmal as the Speaker which was seconded by Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta.
Deputy Speaker legislative Assembly, Nazir Ahmad Gurazi, who chaired the proceeding, sought the consent of the House on voice vote for election of Singh as the new speaker of the Lower House.
Members of PDP-BJP and its allies voted in support of the motion. However opposition camp abstained from the voting.
Singh, who was earlier seated with the BJP MLAs, was escorted to the chair by chief Minister Mehbooba Mufit and Law Minister Syed Basharat Bukhari. Immediately after the election, the Speaker commenced the proceedings of the House.
Congratulating the Speaker, Chief Minister said that there is no doubt that the JK Assembly is a most powerful in the country. “We have different situation here. In our state the government has its role but the opposition has to play important role. I am hopeful that the Speaker will facilitate all in the house and will lead the house with full responsibility,” the CM said.
She said that in democracy one cannot ignore the opposition, “Mufti said, adding, “The opposition must say what they want to say.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel”
She said while the speaker should give time to ruling party but also do justice with the opposition.
Congratulating Singh, BJP senior leader and Housing Minister, Sat Sahrma spoke about his “statesmanship” as Deputy Chief Minister of the state.
Senior NC leader, Mian Altaf , in his address, congratulated the newly-elected Speaker.
He said there would be situations when the Speaker has to rise above party lines and take decisions for the welfare of the state.
He also expressed hope that the Speaker would provide equal opportunities to all the Members to highlight the issues of public interest.
MLAs M Y Tarigami, MLA Langate, Er Abdur Rashid also congratulated the new Speaker and wished him success in running the House smoothly, while respecting the sentiments of the members in raising issues of public concern.
The Speaker expressed his gratitude to all the Members of the House for unanimously electing him to the Speaker’s Chair.
He assured the members that he will try his best to come up to their expectations by way of strengthening the credibility of the Speaker’s institution.
It is to mention here that opposition had raised question over the notification issued to elect the speaker.
NC leader Shafi Urvi had suggested that since there are problems in the system and conduct of rules, elections can be deferred about which has happened in past as well. But the ruling coalition moved ahead and sought the votes. (KNS)