Ram Ashish Rai Yadav, the chief whip of the Janata Samajwadi Party (Nepal), has been elected as the speaker of the Madhesh Provincial Assembly.
In 2022, Yadav was elected as a provincial assembly member from Dhanusha Constituency No. 2 (b) under the first-past-the-post system for a second time.
Ninety-six members were present in the provincial assembly meeting held on Sunday for the election of the speaker. Among them, 72 members voted for Yadav, while 24 votes were cast against him.
Deputy Speaker Babita Kumari Raut Ishar informed the provincial assembly that Yadav was elected speaker in accordance with Article 182 (3) of the Constitution and Rule 7 (5) of the Provincial Assembly Operation Regulations.
Yadav was supported by the ruling seven-party alliance. Earlier on Sunday, a meeting of the alliance had reached an agreement to field Yadav as their candidate.
During the provincial assembly meeting held on Sunday, Nepali Congress lawmaker Birendra Prasad Singh had tabled a proposal to elect Yadav as the speaker in accordance with Rule 7 (4) of the Provincial Assembly Operation Regulations, which was seconded by Fakira Mahato of the CPN (Maoist Center).
On the other hand, UML lawmaker Sharada Thapa had proposed Triloki Prasad for the post. The proposal was seconded by Jay Chandra Prasad Patel.
The post had been vacant since the removal of former speaker Ram Chandra Mandal. Deputy Speaker Raut had been leading the provincial assembly as the acting speaker since then.
On November 19, the seven-party alliance had removed then-speaker Mandal from his post with a two-thirds majority, accusing him of conduct unbecoming of his position.
