Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 18: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today appointed National Conference (NC) MLA Mubarak Gul as the Pro- tem Speaker of the new Legislative Assembly and he will administer oath to newly elected MLAs on October 21 in Srinagar.
Gul, who served as Speaker for about two years in 2013-2014 in National Conference-Congress coalition Government, won Idgah Assembly seat in Srinagar for the sixth time. He is among the senior most MLAs in the Legislative Assembly.
An order appointing Gul as the Pro-tem Speaker was issued today. The appointment was made by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha under Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act.
Excelsior had today exclusively reported that Gul will be sworn-in as the Pro-tem Speaker while senior National Conference leader and former Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather is likely to be appointed as the Speaker.
Gul will administer oath to the newly elected members of the Assembly on Monday, according to the order issued by the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly Secretariat.
“The Lieutenant Governor, in pursuance to Section 24 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 appointed Mubarak Gul, Member Legislative Assembly as Speaker Pro tem before whom all the Members of the J&K Legislative Assembly shall make and subscribe the oath/affirmation in terms of Section 24 of aforesaid (Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation) Act,” the order stated.
“The oath/affirmation will be administered by the Pro-tem Speaker in the J&K Legislative Assembly, Srinagar on October 21, 2024 at 2 PM.
“All the Members of the J&K Legislative Assembly are accordingly requested to kindly make it convenient to attend the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly for making and subscribing the oath/affirmation on the scheduled date and time,” it said.
Sources said after election of the Speaker, the National Conference Government is likely to call Assembly session in first week of November.
Post of the Deputy Speaker in the Legislative Assembly is also expected to be offered to main Opposition party, the BJP, by the National Conference Government.
The PDP-BJP coalition Government in 2015 had also given post of the Deputy Speaker to the National Conference which was in the Opposition then and had only 15 MLAs.
The BJP has emerged second largest party with 29 MLAs after National Conference which has 42 seats.
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