Devnani unanimously elected as Speaker

Jaipur: Five-time MLA from Ajmer North seat and former state minister Vasudev Devnani was on Thursday unanimously elected as the Speaker of the 16th Rajasthan Assembly. He is the 17th Speaker of the House.
The House passed the proposal by voice vote. Following the election of the Speaker, the House adjourned till January 19 next year.
Five nominations were filed in favour of Devnani for the post, cutting across party lines.Chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma moved a proposal to elect Devnani to the Speaker’s post and was seconded by Congress leader Sachin Pilot.
Another proposal was moved by former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and was seconded by Congress MLA Govind Singh Dotasra, but Gehlot was not present in the House on Thursday.
Former chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s proposal was seconded by BAP MLA Rajkumar Roat. Deputy chief minister Diya Kumari’s proposal was seconded by MLA Chandrabhan Singh Chauhan. The fifth was moved by RLP MLA Hanuman Beniwal and was seconded by RLD MLA Subhash Garg.
Protem speaker Kalicharan Saraf announced the nominations, and the House passed the proposal to elect Devnani to the post by a voice vote.
Chief minister Sharma, former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, PCC president Govind Singh Dotasara, Sachin Pilot and other leaders accompanied Devnani to the Speaker’s chair and congratulated him on his unanimous election to the post. The House joined them in congratulating the new Speaker.
Congratulating Devnani, CM Sharma said, “The Assembly has a glorious tradition of Speakers elected unanimously and this has been carried on with the election of Devnani unopposed.”
Sharma said that under the leadership of Devnani, the House will give concrete shape to the concept of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, and Sabka Vishwas”. He added, “It is a matter of pride for us that both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are being run by Om Birla and Jagdeep Dhankhar, who were members of this assembly.”
After assuming the post of Speaker, Devnani in his speech said he will work impartially and do justice to all. “I have been a teacher. When the teacher checks the copy, he does not see which student’s copy it is. Marking is done based on what is written in it. The feeling of fairness resides in me like in a teacher.”
He advised the new MLAs to develop the habit of studying. “Read the rules and procedures and take an active part in the proceedings in the House,” he said.
Later, speaking to the media, Devnani said that he would conduct a two-day orientation workshop for the MLAs and try to increase the sittings of the House to at least 40 days in a year.