NC's Abdul Rahim Rather elected J-K Assembly speaker

Srinagar: Veteran National Conference leader and seven-time MLA from Charar-e-Sharief Abdul Rahim Rather was on Monday elected the first speaker of the legislative assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Rather (80) was elected the speaker with a voice vote after the opposition parties decided against contesting for the post. Protem Speaker Mubarak Gul conducted the election.

Minister for Agriculture Javed Ahmad Dar moved a motion to name Rather for the post of speaker, while NC's MLA Ramban Arjun Singh Raju seconded the motion on the first day of the five-day session.

After his election, Rather was escorted to the chair by the Leader of the House Omar Abdullah, and Leader of Opposition, BJP's Sunil Sharma.

Rather had earlier held the post of the speaker in the legislative assembly of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. He was also the leader of the opposition from 2002 to 2008 when the PDP-Congress coalition government ruled the state.

The House met after a gap of more than six years, with the last session held in early 2018, a year before the reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories.