Uttar Pradesh assembly begins on May 17

Lucknow, May 16: The functioning of the 15th Uttar Pradesh assembly will begin tomorrow even as the first sitting of the house will be held on May 21 with the Governor's joint address.

All the members would be administered oath of office tomorrow by the pro-tem speaker and the panel of four members, while on May 18 the new speaker will be elected.

Leader of the opposition and Samajwadi Party legislature party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav will be the first member after the pro-tem speaker to be administered the oath of office.

Chief Minister Mayawati would not be the part of the oath ceremony as she is not the member of the house.

Senior legislator and BJP leader Shyamdeo Rai Choudhury was yesterday appointed Pro-tem speaker of the new Assembly.

Governor T V Rajeswar had appointed Mr Rai Choudhury as a pro-tem speaker along with a panel of four members Pramod Tiwari, Janardan Prasad Ojha, Gauri Shanker Advocate and Ram Pal Verma.

All the four panel members will be administered oath by the Governor today at Raj Bhawan. One of these panel member will in turn administer oath to Mr Rai Choudhury tomorrow.

State Principal secretary (Assembly) Rajendra Prasad Pandey said here that on May 17-18 the newly elected members will be administered oath by the pro-tem speaker and the panel members.

He said nominations for the election of the speaker will be accepted till 1200 tomorrow and the new speaker will be elected on May 18.

Mr Rajeswar will address the joint session of the state legislature in the morning of May 21 while the first sitting of the house will be held later in the afternoon when the speaker will hold the proceedings.

The first session of the house is expected to be a very brief one with maximum of five days sitting. The house is expected to meet again in the last week of June to adopt the budgetary provision for the current financial year.

The previous Samajwadi Party government had sought a vote-on-accounts for the first four months of the current financial year.

UNI