Agartala, Mar 12: Rampada Jamatia is set to become the Speaker of the State Legislative Assembly after demise of Biswa Bandhu Sen on December 26 last.
If elected the former Tribal Welfare Minister, Senior tribal leader and BJP MLA Rampada Jamatia will be the second person from Janajati communities to be the Speaker.
BJP legislators proposed the name of his name during a pre-Assembly meeting at the official residence of Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha on Thursday evening.
The meeting took place ahead of the upcoming Assembly session scheduled to start from March 13.
After the meeting, Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha congratulated him. Deputy Speaker Ram Prasad Paul and Chief Whip Kalyani Roy also greeted him.
Legislators from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Tipra Motha Party and Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) joined them.
Sources said the new Speaker is likely to take oath on March 18.
Notably, communist leader Sudhanva Debbarma was the first one from the Janajati communities to hold the position.
Jamatia earlier led the traditional tribal body Jamatia Hoda. Known as a RSS activist, he is alma mater of the MBB College.
Over the years, he has remained an influential voice in tribal politics in the state. Before entering into active politics, Jamatia was an employee of ONGC, sources close to him revealed.
The Chief Minister expressed confidence in Jamatia’s leadership. He said Jamatia’s long political experience and dedication would strengthen the functioning of the Assembly in the coming days.