Congress leader elected Speaker unopposed
As required by convention, chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Opposition leader B.S. Yeddyurappa escorted Ramesh Kumar to the Speaker's chair.
Bengaluru: It was smooth sailing, after all, for veteran Congress leader K.R. Ramesh Kumar, who was unanimously elected Speaker of the 15th Legislative Assembly on Friday with the BJP withdrawing the candidature of Suresh Kumar for the post .
The BJP Legislature Party, which met here Friday morning, decided not to contest the post and after Suresh Kumar informed the House about his withdrawal, pro-tem Speaker K.G. Bopaiah declared that Ramesh Kumar was unanimously elected Speaker.
As required by convention, chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Opposition leader B.S. Yeddyurappa escorted Ramesh Kumar to the Speaker’s chair.
Congratulating him, Mr Kumaraswamy recalled that Ramesh Kumar was also the Speaker when his father, H.D. Deve Gowda was the chief minister.
Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaram-aiah hoped that the quality of the debate in the House, which was deteriorating, would be restored with Ramesh Kumar as Speaker and appealed to him to give an opportunity to the young members of the Assembly to be heard.