BJD to field Pramila Mallik for Assembly Speaker

Bhubaneswar: Odisha's Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Pramila Mallik will be the Biju Janata Dal candidate for Assembly Speaker's post.

Mallik will file papers for the coveted post which has been lying vacant since the resignation of Bikram Keshari Arukha in May. The election will be held at 9.30 am on September 22.

Earlier, the Speaker's election was scheduled on September 21 and filing of nomination on September 18. However, after BJP and Congress announced to boycott the election as it coincided with Nuakhai, the agrarian festival of western Odisha, it was shifted to September 22 and filing of nomination to September 21.

Mallik said, ''I am indebted to CM Naveen Patnaik for considering me for the post of Speaker. After election, I will be Odisha's first woman Speaker.''