Bhubaneswar, June 20 (Representative) BJP MLA from Ranapur, Surama Padhy, was elected unopposed as Speaker of the Odisha Legislative Assembly on Thursday. Padhy is the second woman, after BJD’s Pramila Mallik, to become the Speaker of the Odisha Assembly. Pramila Mallik, who was holding the position of Revenue and Disaster Management Minister in the Naveen Patnaik government, resigned from the post on September 21, 2023, and was elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Odisha Legislative Assembly on September 22, 2023, becoming the first woman to occupy the Speaker’s post. A two-time MLA, Surama Padhy was first elected to the State Assembly from the Ranapur Assembly seat in the 2004 elections and served as the Minister of State for Cooperation from May 18, 2004, to March 9, 2009, in the BJD-BJP coalition government headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
A Master’s degree holder in Home Science and a Law graduate, she joined the BJP in 1988 and served as the State BJP Mahila Morcha President from 1998 to 2000. She subsequently became the BJP Mahila Morcha National President for two years starting in 2002. Surama Padhy filed her nomination for the post on Wednesday and was elected unopposed as no other political parties fielded a candidate against her.The BJP, which formed the government in Odisha for the first time, has a clear majority of 78 MLAs and the support of three Independents in the 147-member house. The BJD has 51 members, while the Congress has 14 MLAs and the CPM has one member.
After being elected as Speaker, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Deputy Chief Ministers K. V. Singh Deo and Pravati Parida, and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik, along with Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati, escorted Padhy from the well of the house to the Speaker’s podium. The Chief Minister congratulated Surama Padhy on being elected as the Speaker of the 17th Odisha Legislative Assembly and expressed hope that she would maintain the dignity of the house and run it with impartiality. Majhi further said, “We are all committed with dedication to serve the people of Odisha,” and appealed to the members of the house to extend their cooperation and support to the Speaker and maintain the decorum and dignity of the house.