Congress President approves appointment of CP Joshi as Rajasthan Assembly Speaker

New Delhi, Jan 14: Congress President Rahul Gandhi approved the appointment of C P Joshi as Speaker of 15th Rajasthan Assembly, Mahesh Joshi as chief whip, and Mahendra Chaudhary as deputy chief whip.

CP Joshi, 68, has been elected from the Nathdwara assembly constituency. He was the Member of Parliament from Bhilwara in the 15th Lok Sabha and had served as the Union Minister For Road Transport and Highways from 2009 to 2013.

Joshi was one of the first 19 members of India's new cabinet sworn in on 22 May 2009, despite being a first-time member of the Lok Sabha. In 2012, after Mamata Banerjee went out of UPA and Mukul Roy resigned as Railways Minister, CP Joshi got extra charge of Railways Ministry.

Senior BJP legislator Gulab Chand Kataria took oath as the pro-term speaker of the Rajasthan Assembly on Monday. He will conduct the first meeting of the 15th Legislative Assembly beginning Tuesday.

(With PTI inputs)