Mankal Vaidya, Umashree unanimously elected to top Karnataka Legislature posts

Bengaluru, Aug 18: Bhatkal Congress MLA Mankal Vaidya has been unanimously elected Deputy Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, while Congress MLC Umashree has been elected Deputy Chairperson of the Legislative Council.

Both leaders were the only candidates to file nominations for the respective posts on Monday. With no other candidates entering the fray, they were elected unopposed on Tuesday.

In the Assembly, Vaidya’s name was proposed for the Deputy Speaker’s post and was supported by Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and Minister Laxman Savadi. Following a voice vote, Speaker G S Patil announced Vaidya’s unanimous election.

The Deputy Speaker’s post had remained vacant after Rudrappa Lamani resigned following his induction into the Shivakumar-led Cabinet. The Congress had earlier named MLA A S Ponnanna for the post, but he was subsequently appointed Chief Minister’s Political Secretary with Cabinet rank.

Meanwhile, Umashree was unanimously elected Deputy Chairperson of the Karnataka Legislative Council after filing her nomination on Monday.

Born in 1957 in Navanagar village of Tiptur taluk in Tumakuru district, Umashree rose from a financially disadvantaged background. She studied up to SSLC and later pursued an MSc in Political Science.

She was nominated to the Legislative Council in 2001 and served until 2007. She contested the 2008 Assembly election from Teradal but was defeated. In 2013, she won the seat and became a minister in the Siddaramaiah government.

During her ministerial tenure, Umashree handled the portfolios of Women and Child Development, Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Welfare of Senior Citizens, and Kannada and Culture. She was also recognised in 2016 for the performance of her departments.

Congratulating Umashree in the Council, Leader of the House Yathindra Siddaramaiah described her as an inspiration to women, saying she had overcome poverty and several challenges to establish herself as an actor and politician.

Yathindra said Umashree had initially turned to theatre for her livelihood before establishing herself as a prominent actress in Indian cinema and later entering active politics.

The unanimous election of Vaidya and Umashree fills two important presiding positions in the Karnataka Legislature.