Vaju Vala named ‘pro tem’ Speaker

Former state finance minister and one of BJP's most senior MLAs, Vajubhai Vala, was selected as the "pro tem" Speaker of the new state Assembly Wednesday.

Following the resignation of Ganpat Vasava as the Speaker of the last assembly, Vala was selected as the presiding officer of the House until a new Speaker is elected.

Vasava took oath as Cabinet minister in the 17-member council headed by Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

In the wake of his inclusion in the cabinet, Vasava tendered his resignation from the Speaker's post and the seven-time BJP MLA from Rajkot was selected as "pro tem" Speaker.

When Modi took oath as chief minister of the state for the fourth time in a row, everyone was surprised when Vala was dropped from the list of ministers who were sworn in along with Modi.

As Gujarat's finance minster, Vala has a record of presenting the state budget 18 times.

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