Congress lawmaker Hina Likhiram Kawre was elected deputy speaker by a voice vote.
Congress lawmaker Hina Likhiram Kawre was today elected deputy speaker of the Madhya Pradesh assembly amid protest by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), before the House was adjourned sine die a day ahead of schedule.
The assembly witnessed din and was adjourned multiple times after the BJP raised objections over the process followed by the Chair to elect Ms Kawre to the post.
The BJP had fielded its lawmaker Jagdish Devda for the post.
Earlier, assembly speaker NP Prajapati read out four separate proposals of treasury benches to elect the two-time legislator Ms Kawre, 33, as deputy speaker.
Leader of Opposition Gopal Bhargava objected to this, saying his party's proposal to elect Mr Devda should be read out too along with the four proposals.
The Chair agreed to this.
Former assembly speaker Sitasharan Sharma also tried to raise a point of order (objection to the procedure being adopted to elect deputy speaker) on the issue.
Mr Bhargava and former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan backed Mr Sharma and demanded that the former speaker be heard.
After speaker Prajapati did not pay heed to the opposition's demand, BJP members said the House was being run "un-democratically and unilaterally" right from day one. The BJP legislators trooped into the Well of the House and shouted slogans seeking that Mr Sharma, one of their senior most members, be given a chance to speak.
The speaker, however, said he had honoured Mr Bhargava's demand and read out the five proposals. He asked the opposition not to hinder the process to elect the deputy speaker.
The speaker had to adjourn the House two times for 10 minutes each amid protests.
After the House reassembled, Ms Kawre was elected deputy speaker by a voice vote amid pandemonium.
The BJP lawmakers continued to stay put in the Well of the House, leading Mr Prajapati to adjourn the House for the third time for 10 minutes.
When the House reassembled, the BJP shouted slogans against the speaker and accused him of being "unfair".
The opposition members said the deputy speaker was elected without following established rules and maintained there was no point in Mr Prajapati now giving a clarification.
Mr Prajapati took up the listed business for the day, including approving the supplementary budget.
The speaker then adjourned the House sine die a day ahead of schedule.