Gandhinagar: Ruling BJP MLA Purnesh Modi was on Monday elected as the new deputy speaker of the Gujarat assembly through a voice vote on the first day of the budget session.The opposition Congress, having 12 seats in the Assembly, fielded MLA Shailesh Parmar for the post, setting up a direct contest between the two candidates. With the BJP holding an overwhelming majority with 162 seats in the 182-member assembly, Modi was declared the winner by speaker Shankar Chaudhary following a voice vote. Modi is a thee-time MLA from the Surat West assembly constituency. He succeeded Jetha Bharwad, who resigned from the post of deputy speaker in Dec last year, citing his “busy schedule” and other responsibilities. The opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has five legislators, did not support any of the candidates. The BJP leader came into the limelight in 2019 when he filed a criminal defamation case against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in a Surat court for remarks made by the Congress leader during an election rally at Kolar in Karnataka that year. Speaking after his election as deputy speaker, Modi said his focus will be to ensure that proceedings of the assembly are held in an orderly manner, with members working for the welfare of the people.
