Agartala, Mar 12: Senior BJP legislator Rampada Jamatia is set to become the next Speaker of the Tripura Legislative Assembly. 

His name was proposed by party MLAs during a meeting ahead of Budget Session held at Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha's official residence on Thursday evening.

The legislators from the ruling party BJP and Tipra Motha and IPFT ministers discussed the upcoming Assembly proceedings and unanimously backed Jamatia’s candidature for the post.

Sources indicated that the formal election and oath-taking ceremony for the new Speaker is likely to take place on March 18.

The Speaker’s position has remained vacant since the passing of former Speaker Biswabandhu Sen, the MLA from Dharmanagar, who died on December 26 last year.

Jamatia is a prominent tribal leader and former leader of the traditional body Jamatia Hoda.

Following the meeting, the Chief Minister along with Deputy Speaker Ram Prasad Paul, Chief Whip Kalyani Roy and legislators from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Tipra Motha Party and Indigenous People's Front of Tripura extended their congratulations to Jamatia.

Expressing confidence in his leadership, the Chief Minister said that Jamatia’s long political experience and commitment to public service would help strengthen the functioning of the Assembly and ensure smooth and effective conduct of its proceedings in the coming days.