BENGALURU: Bhattkal MLA Mankala Vaidya and Congress MLC Umashree have been elected unopposed as the deputy speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and deputy chairperson of the Legislative Council respectively.
Vaidya and Umashree were the only candidates to file nominations for the two posts. With no other nominations being submitted, both were declared elected without a contest.
In the Assembly, Vaidya’s candidature was proposed and supported by Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and minister Laxman Savadi. Speaker G S Patil subsequently announced Vaidya’s election through a voice vote.
The Assembly deputy speaker’s post had fallen vacant after Rudrappa Lamani resigned following his induction into the state cabinet during the recent expansion. Congress had earlier considered MLA A S Ponnanna for the position, but the plan changed after he was appointed Chief Minister’s political secretary with cabinet rank.
Meanwhile, Umashree brings previous legislative experience to the Council post. She was nominated to the Karnataka Legislative Council in 2001 and served until 2007.
She contested the 2008 Assembly election from the Teradal constituency but was defeated. Umashree returned to the Assembly in 2013 after winning from the same constituency and subsequently served as a minister in the Siddaramaiah-led government.
The unopposed elections give the ruling Congress representation in the deputy presiding positions of both Houses of the Karnataka legislature.
