M S Dhir is AAP nomine for Speaker's post

Ending the suspense, the AAP today announced its MLA M S Dhir will be party candidate for the post of Speaker in the Delhi Assembly.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made the announcement to the media outside his residence here even as BJP and Congress have been reticent about disclosing their strategy.

The Speaker's election is scheduled to take place on January 3, a day after the trust vote to be sought by the government in the Assembly whose first session starts tomorrow.

In the 70-member Assembly, AAP has 28 MLAs, eight short of a majority required to get its nominee elected. The AAP has the support of 8 MLAs of Congress party, which will take it safely across the half-way mark.

He said that he was not aware why the BJP has declined to accept the pro-tem Speaker's post, which generally goes to the senior most member of the house.

Queried about that, he shot back, "I don't know why the BJP declined. I think you should ask them."

The Delhi Assembly Session is starting from tomorrow.

Senior BJP leader and MLA Jagdish Mukhi had last night declined to be the pro-tem Speaker of Delhi Assembly.

"The decision was taken by my party that neither I nor any MLA of the party will be the pro-team Speaker", Mukhi had said after he was appointed to the post by Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.