Gandhinagar: BJP MLA from Mangrol assembly
constituency in Surat district, Ganpat Vasava, on Wednesday filed his
nomination for the post of Assembly Speaker.
The opposition Congress has supported Vasava's
nomination, and demanded that its member be appointed to the
post of Deputy Speaker.
With no other nomination filed, and the opposition
supporting Vasava, he will be sworn in as the Speaker when
the Assembly starts tomorrow.
Aged 40, Vasava would be the youngest, and the first
tribal leader, to hold the post of Speaker in the Gujarat
Assembly.
The post fell vacant due to the demise of Ashok Bhatt
last year.
The Congress has demanded that it be given the post of
the Deputy Speaker, as per the tradition.
"Congress has supported the candidature of Ganpat
Vasava as the Speaker of the Assembly, and maintained the rich
parliamentary traditions of Gujarat. We hope and demand that
the Deputy Speaker post be given to us," Leader of the
Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil said.
Vasava, who is an MA (Gujarati), is representing Mangrol
constituency for the last two terms. He first won Assembly
polls in 2002 and then in 2007.
After joining the BJP in 1995, he spent two years as
president of the Umarpada taluka unit, before being appointed
the general secretary of the Mangrol taluka unit.
He has also held the post of General Secretary of the
state unit of BJP's Adivasi Morcha for two years.
Vasava has been heading Hindu Jagran Manch for some
years. He has also held the post of director of Gujarat State
Forest Development Corporation (GSFDC) for four years from
1997 to 2001.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, February 24, 2011, 00:26