Nimaben Acharya became the first woman Speaker of Gujarat Legislative Assembly

Senior BJP MLA Nimaben Acharya on Monday became the first woman Speaker of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly. The opposition Congress supported Acharya’s nomination for the post, following which he was elected unopposed as the Speaker on the first day of the two-day monsoon session of the state assembly that began here on Monday.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel proposed his name for the Speaker’s post and Leader of Opposition Paresh Dhanani agreed on behalf of the Congress, which has 65 MLAs in the 182-member House. “For the first time since the formation of Gujarat in 1960, the state assembly has a woman speaker. I congratulate him on behalf of the entire House,” Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said.

Acharya assured the House that she would try to fulfill her new responsibility to the best of her ability. The post of the Speaker fell vacant after Rajendra Trivedi resigned on 16 September and joined the new state cabinet led by CM Bhupendra Patel.