Ramesh becomes first Speaker to get 2nd term

Congress leader and former minister K R Ramesh Kumar was unanimously elected the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on Friday after BJP nominee S Suresh Kumar withdrew his candidature for the post.

Ramesh Kumar becomes the first person in history of the Assembly to serve as Speaker for a second term. A sixth-term MLA from Srinivasapur in Kolar district, he held the post between 1994-99 when the undivided Janata Dal was in power. He was Health Minister in the Siddaramaiah Cabinet.

As soon as the House met, the proceedings for the election to the post of Speaker was taken up by pro tem presiding officer K G Bopaiah.

However, Suresh Kumar said he was withdrawing his nomination following a direction from the BJP leadership. Suresh Kumar, a fifth-term MLA , had filed his papers on Thursday, apparently a stratergy by the BJP to test the unity of the JD(S)-Congress combine which fielded Ramesh Kumar.

The BJP legislature party, which met on Friday morning, decided that the election of the Speaker should be unanimous.

Anyways, the BJP, which emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats in the May 12 polls did not have the numbers to get its candidate elected as it was is pitted against the newly formed Congres-JD(S) alliance with a combined strength of 117.

Ramesh Kumar’s name was then proposed by Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah and seconded by Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara. The motion was unanimously adopted by the House.

Chief Minister Kumaraswamy and Leader of the Opposition B S Yeddyurappa escorted Ramesh Kumar to the chair.

Kumaraswamy recalled that Ramesh Kumar was Speaker when his father H D Deve Gowda was chief minister in 1994.

Parameshwara and Siddaramaiah said Ramesh Kumar had rich experience in conducting the House and had set a benchmark for presiding officer across the country to follow during his previous tenure as Speaker.