Ritu Khanduri becomes first woman speaker of Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly

New Delhi: Ritu Khanduri on Saturday (March 26, 2022) became the first woman speaker of the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly.

The BJP's Kotdwar MLA had filed her nomination papers on Thursday.

Khanduri, the daughter of former chief minister Bhuvan Chandra Khanduri, was also the state BJP Mahila Morcha president.

She had defeated former minister Surendra Singh Negi of the Congress in Kotdwar by more than 3,000.

A two-time MLA, Khanduri had won her first Assembly election from Yamkeshwar in 2017.

A former teacher at Amity University, Noida, Khanduri is married to IAS officer Rajesh Bhushan, who is the Union Health Secretary at present.

(With agency inputs)