By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Lal Bihari Himrika was Wednesday elected deputy speaker of the Orissa legislative assembly, official sources said.
The two-time legislator from the state’s impoverished Rayagada district was elected uncontested by a voice vote in the assembly as no other candidate had been fielded against him.
Himrika, 61, was first elected to the assembly in 2000 on a BJD ticket. This year, he defeated Congress veteran Ramachandra Ulaka to grab the Rayagada assembly seat with a margin of about 15,000 votes.