Congress MLA KB Koliwad unanimously elected as Karnataka Assembly Speaker

Bengaluru: Senior Congress MLA KB Koliwad was on Tuesday unanimously elected as the 20th Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.Koliwad, a five-time MLA from Ranebennur constituency, had filed his nomination on Monday. He had served as Minister in the past.[caption id="attachment_2874892" align="alignleft" width="380"] KB Koliwad. Screengrab from IBN Live[/caption]Koliwad succeeds Kagodu Thimmappa, who has been inducted into the Ministry as Revenue Minister by Chief Minister Siddaramaih in the recent cabinet rejig.Siddaramaiah proposed the name of Koliwad while Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister TB Jayachandra seconded it following which he was elected as Speaker unopposed in a voice vote.After Deputy Speaker Shivashankar Reddy formally announced Koliwad's election, he was escorted by Siddaramaiah, Opposition Leader Jagadish Shettar and JD(S) leader YSV Datta to the Chair.Earlier, as the House met for the day, BJP members entered the Well demanding a probe into the alleged site allocation scam involving Bengaluru Development Authority but later relented after the Deputy Speaker asked them to allow the business of election of Speaker.Congratulating Koliwad, Siddaramaiah thanked Opposition for its support in electing the Speaker unopposed.