New Delhi, June 20: President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday appointed Bhartruhari Mahtab, newly elected BJP MP from Odisha's Cuttack constituency, as pro-tem speaker of Lok Sabha.

“President is pleased to appoint Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab, Member, Lok Sabha as Speaker Protem under Article 95(1) of the Constitution to perform the duties of Speaker till election of the Speaker,” Union minister Kiren Rijiju posted on X.

Mahtab is a seven-time MP from Cuttack. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998 from Cuttack. He was re-elected to the Lok Sabha in 1999, 2004, 2009, and 2014, 2019 from the same seat on Biju Janata Dal (BJD) ticket.

The veteran leader joined the BJP ahead of the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections and again won from the Cuttack seat.

Notably, as per Article 94 of the Constitution, the office of the Speaker becomes vacant immediately before the first meeting of the new Lok Sabha. In that case, the duties of the Speaker are to be performed by a Member of the House appointed for this purpose by the President as Speaker pro tem.

The first session of 18th Lok Sabha will start on June 24. The Rajya Sabha session will begin on June 27.

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