Bhubaneswar: Ranendra Pratap Swain has taken oath as the Pro-Tem Odisha Assembly Speaker on Friday, said reports. According to reports, Senior BJD MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain had been appointed Pro-tem Speaker of Odisha assembly by Governor Raghubar Das on June 13.
The 70-year-old MLA has been representing the Athagarh Assembly constituency Cuttack district since 1990. In the recently concluded 2024 election, Swain defeated Abhaya Kumar Barik of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with a margin of 3584 votes.
It is to be noted here that Ranendra Pratap Swain will administer oaths to the newly elected MLAs on June 18 and 19. Following, which election for the post of assembly Speaker will be held. The candidates can apply for the post of assembly Speaker on or before June 19 and the Odisha assembly election will be held on June 20.
Know who is a Pro-tem Speaker:
The Constitution does not expressly use the term ‘Pro-tem Speaker’. Pro-tem Speaker is a temporary speaker appointed for a limited time period to conduct proceedings in Parliament or State legislatures. A pro-tem Speaker is ordinarily elected for the first sitting of a new legislative assembly where the Speaker is yet to be elected.
Who can be appointed as pro-tem Speaker?
The law on pro-tem speaker is laid down under Article 180(1) of the Constitution Article 180(1) of the Constitution provides that when the Speaker or Deputy Speaker positions are vacant, the duties of the Office should be performed by ‘such member of the Assembly as the Governor may appoint for the purpose.’
