By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 21 Mar: Pro-tem Speaker Banshidhar Bhagat administered the oath to newly elected MLAs of the fifth assembly of Uttarakhand, here, today. With the exception of Tilak Raj Behad of Congress, who won from Kichha in Udham Singh Nagar district, every other elected MLA was sworn-in by Bhagat at the Vidhan Sabha Bhawan, here, today. It is reported that Behad could not make it to Dehradun for the oath ceremony. He will be sworn in separately.
Newly elected MLA Anupama Rawat was the first to take oath. MLA Ritu Khanduri and Satpal Maharaj took the oath in Sanskrit, while Kishore Upadhyay took it in Garhwali.
Earlier, Governor Lt Gen Gurmit Singh (Retd) had administered sworn-in Banshidhar Bhagat as Pro-tem Speaker at the Raj Bhavan.
It may be recalled that, in the 70 member House, BJP won 47 seats, while Congress won 19 seats, BSP managed 2 seats, and 2 independent candidates also won the election. Once the government is formed and the first regular session is held, the Speaker of the House will be elected by the House. It is also possible that the Speaker may be elected unanimously.
