KATHMANDU, Jan 18: The newly elected Speaker of the Madhesh Province Assembly, Ramchandra Mandal and Deputy Speaker Babita Kumari Raut Ishar have taken the oath of office and secrecy.

This morning Madhesh Province Chief Harishankar Mishra administered the oath of office and secrecy to the Speaker and Deputy Speaker. Deputy Speaker Ishar said the oath was taken in Hindi. Madhes Chief Minister Saroj Kumar Yadav and other ministers participated in the oath taking ceremony.

In the provincial assembly meeting held last Tuesday, 74 votes, i.e. the majority of the members, supported the proposal that Mandal should be elected as the Speaker. In the total 107-member province assembly, 103 members participated in the voting. Mandal was supported by ruling coalition party UML, JSP, Maoist Center, Janmat Party, LSP, RPP, Nepal Sanghiya Samajwadi Party and independent members. UML’S 23 members, NC’s 22, JSP’s 16, Janmat Party’s 13, Maoist Center’s 7, LSP’s 9, CPN (Unified Socialist)’s 7, one each from RPP and Nepal Sanghiya Samajwadi Party and five independent members have been elected to the provincial assembly.

The senior-most member of the Province Assembly, Govinda Bahadur Neupane did not participate in the voting process. As many as 74 votes were cast in favor of Mandal while 52 votes were required to be elected as Speaker. Only 29 votes were cast against him.

Similarly, 72 votes were received in favor of electing the Janamat Party candidate Babita Kumari Raut Ishar as Deputy Speaker. Only 29 votes were cast against her. As many as 101 members participated in the election of the Deputy Speaker.

 
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