JANAKPURDHAM: Ram Ashish Yadav has been elected Speaker of the Madhesh Provincial Assembly.

Yadav, the chief whip of the Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) Nepal, was elected Speaker on Sunday after securing 72 votes.

The other candidate, Triloki Prasad from the CPN-UML, received 24 votes.

The UML has 24 lawmakers in the provincial assembly. While the party had supported Chief Minister Krishna Prasad Yadav’s motion of vote of confidence on Friday, it contested for the Speaker’s post despite knowing that defeat was imminent.

Yadav had the backing of the seven-party ruling alliance in the province. Birendra Kumar Singh proposed his nomination from the Nepali Congress, while Fakira Mahato from the CPN (Maoist Center) seconded it.

The process to elect a new Speaker began after Ram Chandra Mandal, who had been Speaker from the UML, was removed from office by a majority in the provincial assembly.