The inaugural session of the 16th Rajasthan Legislative Assembly is scheduled to commence on December 20, following the approval granted by Governor Kalraj Mishra. On the first day of the session, newly elected members will take the oath. Subsequently, on the second day, the election for the Speaker will take place, with Vasudev Devnani emerging as a potential candidate. According to sources, Congress may extend support to Devnani, and if the opposition also backs him, his election is likely to be uncontested.
This marks a unique occurrence in Rajasthan where lawmakers are taking the oath before the formation of the cabinet. Previously, the inaugural session of the new assembly would take place in January, following which the cabinet formation would follow. However, this time, the oath-taking ceremony for newly elected members precedes the cabinet formation.
To facilitate the oath-taking of the newly elected MLAs, Governor Kalraj Mishra appointed senior legislator Kalicharan Saraf as the Protem Speaker on Monday. Saraf took the oath from Governor Kalraj Mishra on Monday. For assistance in the Protem Speaker’s role, the Governor has also formed a three-member panel comprising senior legislators Dayaram Parmar, Pratap Singh Singhvi, and Dr. Kirori Lal Meena.
The 16th Legislative Assembly has approximately 72 first-time MLAs, including Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma. Possibly, Bhajan Lal Sharma is the first MLA who will reach the Legislative Assembly as the Chief Minister before being an MLA.
Kalicharan Saraf is the most senior legislator in the 16th Legislative Assembly. He has won elections from Malviya Nagar constituency for the eighth consecutive time this year. Saraf has been contesting elections continuously since 1985. He served as the MLA four times from the Johari Bazaar constituency, but after delimitation in 2008, the Johari Bazaar constituency ceased to exist. Since then, Kalicharan Saraf has been winning elections consecutively from the Malviya Nagar constituency in Jaipur.
