By IANS
Gandhinagar : Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashok Bhatt was Friday elected speaker of the 12th Gujarat assembly and was given a talking to by the opposition Congress on the need for neutrality and impartiality in the house.
Bhatt, former health minister, was the only nominee for the post. Minister of State for Home Amit Shah proposed his name and Leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil seconded him.
Bhatt, 68, in his brief acceptance speech said he was assuming a “big responsibility” but was confident of discharging it in the best interests of Gujarat and its people. He described the legislature as a “temple of democracy”.
Promising full cooperation, Congress leader Gohil said his party expected Bhatt to marshal all his accumulated experience as a legislator to ensure that the house transacted its business normally and in the interest of the entire population of Gujarat.
He said: “Ministers may come and go, but history records what the speaker does and contributes to the upholding of high traditions of democracy, of which the legislative chamber is the most visible symbol.”
He reminded Bhatt that he had expressed similar sentiments in 1985 and again in 1998 when he sat on the opposition benches. After reading out what Bhatt had said from the recorded proceedings of the house, Gohil expressed the hope that the new speaker would live up to his own expectations.
Chief Minister Narendra Modi congratulated the new speaker and said Gujarat had always been known for establishing the highest traditions of democratic values.