Bhubaneswar: Athagarh MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain was sworn in as the Pro-tem Speaker of the Odisha Assembly.

Odisha Governor Raghubar Das administered the oath of office to the 8-time MLA as the Pro-tem Speaker of the 17th Odisha Legislative Assembly in a swearing-in ceremony in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi at Raj Bhawan in Bhubaneswar.

He was appointed as the Pro-tem speaker yesterday.

"All the elected members will be sworn in on June 18 and 19. The election to Speaker post will be held on June 20. Till then, I will discharge my duty and responsibilities very well as the Pro-tem Speaker," Swain said after taking oath.

Worth mentioning, Mohan Majhi-led BJP government has announced Ranpur MLA Surama Padhy as the candidate for the Speaker's post.