JANAKPURDHAM, Dec 21: Ram Ashish Yadav of the Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) Nepal has been elected Speaker of the Madhesh Provincial Assembly.
Yadav secured 72 votes in the election held through a division of votes during Sunday’s assembly meeting, defeating the rival candidate, who received 24 votes. A total of 96 lawmakers were present in the Provincial Assembly.
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Deputy Speaker Babita Raut Ishar, who was presiding over the session, announced Yadav’s election as Speaker. His candidacy was proposed by Nepali Congress (NC) lawmaker Birendra Prasad Singh on behalf of the seven-party alliance.
Earlier, a proposal to elect UML candidate Triloki Prasad Yadav as Speaker was not put forward after the majority endorsed Ram Ashish Yadav’s election.
Yadav is a directly elected lawmaker from Dhanusha Constituency No. 2 (B) and has been elected to the provincial assembly for the second time. He had also been serving as the chief whip of JSP Nepal.
The Speaker’s post had remained vacant after then-Speaker Ramchandra Mandal of the CPN-UML was removed on November 19 by a two-thirds majority of the seven-party alliance, citing failure to act in accordance with the dignity of the office.
