Rajendra Trivedi set to be Gujarat Assembly Speaker

BJP MLA from Raopura seat in Vadodara, Rajendra Trivedi, is set to be elected as the Assembly Speaker on Saturday. The BJP formally named Trivedi, a two-term MLA, as its nominee for the post of speaker on Friday. State BJP chief Jitu Vaghani said that Trivedi would file his nomination for the Speaker's post in the presence of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, ministers and senior BJP leaders at 11:00 am on Saturday. Vaghani also requested the Opposition Congress not to put up a candidate and to ensure that Trivedi was elected as Speaker unopposed.

The Congress accepted the request, and announced support for Trivedi's candidature, thus paving the way for his election as Speaker.

"We have decided to support Rajendra Trivedi's candidature. Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani and other Congress MLAs will accompany him when he files his nomination," senior Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar, said. Trivedi's election as Speaker would have been a foregone conclusion even if Congress had put up a candidate, as the BJP has 99 MLAs in the 182-member House, and the Congress 77.

Parmar, however, asked the BJP to give the Deputy Speaker's post to the Opposition, and said that his party would put up a candidate for the post if the request was not accepted. An advocate and a first-time MLA, Trivedi had served as minister of state for sports, youth and cultural activities in the previous Vijay Rupani government.