Agartala, March 18: Former Minister and senior BJP legislator Ram Pada Jamatia was on Wednesday elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Tripura Legislative Assembly. His election comes after the demise of former Speaker Biswa Bandhu Sen, who passed away on December 26 last year at the age of 72 following prolonged medical treatment.
Jamatia was the sole candidate for the post after being nominated by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies, the Tipra Motha Party (TMP) and the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT). Acting Speaker Ram Prasad Paul announced in the House that no other nominations had been filed, leading to Jamatia’s unanimous election.
Following the announcement, Chief Minister Manik Saha, Leader of Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury, Congress Legislature Party leader Birajit Sinha, along with other leaders, escorted Jamatia to the Speaker’s chair in a show of unity across party lines.
Jamatia, a two-time MLA from the Bagma constituency in Gomati district, previously served as Minister of Tribal Welfare and Industry and Commerce, overseeing handloom, handicrafts, and sericulture departments from 2022 to 2023. A tribal leader, he becomes only the second from the community to hold the Speaker’s post in Tripura since statehood in 1972, after Sudhanwa Debbarma.
Meanwhile, the Budget session of the Assembly, which began on March 13, continues to witness key developments. Governor Indrasena Reddy Nallu delivered the inaugural address, while Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy presented a Rs 34,212.31 crore tax-free deficit budget for 2026–27. The session, scheduled to continue until March 25, also includes discussions on key bills proposing the establishment of new universities in the state.
