Senior BJP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh was on Thursday elected as the Speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly.
Minister for Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs, Syed Basharat Ahmed Bukhari moved the motion for election of Singh as the Speaker which was seconded by Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta.
Deputy speaker Nazir Ahmad Gurezi, who chaired the proceeding, sought the consent of the House on voice vote for election of Singh as the new speaker of the Lower House.
Members of PDP-BJP and its allies voted in support of the motion. However opposition camp abstained from the voting.
Singh, who was earlier seated with the BJP MLAs, was escorted to the chair by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, Minister and Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Basharat Ahmad Bukhari, M. Y Tarigami.
Immediately after the election, the Speaker commenced the proceedings of the House.
(With KNS inputs)