Kahlon elected Punjab assembly Speaker

Chandigarh, Mar 16 (UNI) Senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader, Nirmal Singh Kahlon was today unanmiously elected the Speaker of the Punjab assembly.

The name of Mr Kahlon was proposed by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, and seconded by the leader of the BJP Legislature party Manoranjan Kalia.

Leader of opposition Rajinder Kaur Bhattal also accorded her approval to Mr Kahlon.

Both Mr Badal and Kalia congratulated Mr Kahlon on his election.

Mr Kahlon, who was elected to the 13th Vidhan Sabha from his traditional assembly constituency Fatehgarh Churian in Gurdaspur, has earlier experience in conducting the House. He had remained the Speaker of the Vidhan Sabha in 1985, when Mr Surjit Singh Barnala was the Chief Minister.

In the 1997 SAD-BJP governmment, he was the minister for rural development and panchayats.

UNI