Daijiworld Media Network - Agartala
Agartala, Mar 18: Senior BJP legislator Ram Pada Jamatia was on Wednesday elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Tripura Legislative Assembly.
Jamatia’s name for the post was proposed on March 12 by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies, the Tipra Motha Party and the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura. After filing his nomination, he emerged as the sole candidate for the position.
The election for the Speaker’s post became necessary following the death of the previous Speaker, Biswa Bandhu Sen, who passed away on December 26 last year at the age of 72 while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Bengaluru. Sen, a four-time MLA, had been receiving medical care for more than four-and-a-half months.
Announcing the result in the House, Acting Speaker Ram Prasad Paul said Jamatia was the only legislator to submit nomination papers and was therefore declared elected unopposed.
Following the announcement, Chief Minister Manik Saha, Leader of Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury, Congress Legislature Party leader and former minister Birajit Sinha, along with leaders from TMP and IPFT and Chief Whip Kalyani Saha Roy, escorted Jamatia to the Speaker’s chair.
Jamatia had earlier served as Minister for Tribal Welfare and Industry and Commerce (Handloom, Handicrafts and Sericulture) between 2022 and 2023.
With his appointment, he becomes only the second tribal leader to hold the Speaker’s position in the Assembly since Tripura attained full statehood in 1972. The first was Sudhanwa Debbarma, who served as Speaker from 1978 to 1983.
The 69-year-old leader is a two-time MLA from the Bagma Assembly constituency in Gomati district, having been elected in 2018 and 2023. He joined the BJP in 2017 after retiring from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). Earlier in his career, he also worked at the Tripura Jute Mill.
Meanwhile, the Budget session of the Tripura Assembly began on March 13 with Governor Indrasena Reddy Nallu delivering the customary address.
On March 16, finance minister Pranajit Singha Roy presented a tax-free deficit budget of ?34,212.31 crore for the financial year 2026–27. The budget earmarks higher allocations for the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), which is set to hold important elections on April 13.
Earlier, Parliamentary Affairs minister Ratan Lal Nath announced that three key bills had been introduced in the Assembly to establish new institutions — Tripura Women’s University, Tripura University of Health Sciences, and Tripura Technical University. The Budget session is scheduled to continue until March 25, he added.