Congress legislator N.P. Prajapati was on Tuesday elected Speaker of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly by voice vote following a walkout by BJP members over not being allowed to propose the name of their candidate for the post.
The Opposition BJP proposed the name of its candidate, Vijay Shah, for the Speaker's post which was rejected by the pro-tem Speaker, Deepak Saxena.
This triggered protests in the House with the BJP legislators rushing to the Well, forcing the pro-tem Speaker to adjourn the proceedings.
After the House reassembled, the BJP members announced their opposition to Mr. Prajapati’s nomination and walked out of the House. In their absence, Mr. Saxena ordered a voice vote in which Mr. Prajapati, MLA from Gotegaon, secured all 120 votes of the Congress (114 MLAs) and its allies — SP (1) and BSP (2) and four independents — in the 230-member House.
The BJP members accused Mr. Saxena of adopting "indiscriminate method" in the election process while former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan termed the development a “black day for democracy”.
“We will march to Raj Bhavan and submit a memorandum to the Governor [Anandiben Patel],” he said.
For the last five decades, election to the Speaker’s post in Madhya Pradesh Assembly has been conducted unopposed and the post of Deputy Speaker has been given to the Opposition party.
State Parliamentary Affairs Minister Govind Singh alleged that the BJP tried to lure some of the legislators, including the BSP MLAs, but in vain.