By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Kishore Kumar Mohanty, a senior leader of Orissa’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), is likely to become the new speaker of the state assembly, official sources said Monday.
Mohanty has been elected to the assembly from Jharsuguda constituency three times in 1990, 2000, and 2004 respectively. He is working as the chief whip of the ruling coalition in the assembly since May 2004.
Mohanty is set to become speaker because the ruling coalition led by BJD, which has majority in the house, Monday proposed his name for the post, while the main opposition Congress party has decided not to field any candidate.
Born in 1958, Mohanty started his political career in 1984 as a councillor to the local urban body. He became the chairman of Jharsuguda municipality in 1992 and continued in the same post till 1995.
The speaker’s post has been lying vacant following the resignation of Maheswar Mohanty on March 31 after a women employee of the assembly accused him of sexual harassment.
A case has been registered against the former speaker and the police are investigating the matter. The state government had requested the Orissa Human Rights Commission to probe the allegations and it had dropped the case earlier this month, saying it did not find credible evidence in support of the charges levelled against Maheswar Mohanty.