Bhubaneswar: G Udayagiri MLA Saluga Pradhan today became the Deputy Speaker of the Odisha Legislative Assembly.

The BJD MLA was elected as the Deputy Speaker uncontested as the Opposition parties hadn’t fielded any candidate.

He had yesterday filed nomination for the post after the party announced him as its candidate for the Deputy Speaker election.

"I will try to conduct the proceedings of the Assembly smoothly by taking the advice of senior members of the House. I will respect the opinions of members of both ruling and opposition parties," he had said.

The Deputy Speaker position had fallen vacant after Rajanikant Singh resigned from the post on November 8. He stepped down from the post citing personal reason.