Jammu and Kashmir Assembly to meet today to elect new Speaker

Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will meet today to elect its new Speaker, with senior NC leader and former minister Abdul Rahim Rather proposed for the post. As per the list of business for today, released by the Assembly Secretariat, the house will meet at 10.30 AM and the election of the Speaker is the first item on the agenda.

The election of the new Speaker is likely to be easy as the National Conference has 41 MLAs, while allies Congress has 6 and CPI-M one in the 90-member Assembly.

The National Conference has offered the Deputy Speaker’s post to the BJP, which is the second largest party in the Assembly with 29 members – though one member has subsequently passed away. The BJP has chosen Narender Singh for the post. After the Speaker’s election, the members will gather in the Assembly Hall at 11.30 a.m. for Lt Governor Manoj Sinha’s address, as per the list of business.