Gandhinagar, February 16 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Purnesh Modi was elected as the new Deputy Speaker of the Gujarat Assembly through a voice vote on the first day of the Budget session here on Monday.
The Opposition Congress, which has 12 seats in the Assembly, had fielded its MLA Shailesh Parmar for the post, setting up a direct contest between the two candidates.
With the BJP holding an overwhelming majority with 162 seats in the 182-member Assembly, Modi was declared the winner by Speaker Shankar Chaudhary following a voice vote.
The three-time MLA from the Surat West Assembly constituency succeeded Jethabhai Bharwad, who resigned from the post of Deputy Speaker in December last year, citing his "busy schedule" and other responsibilities.
The Opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has five legislators, did not support any of the candidates.
Modi first entered the Assembly from Surat West by winning a bypoll in 2013 and later got re-elected from the same constituency in 2017 and 2022.
The BJP leader came into the spotlight in 2019 when he filed a criminal defamation case against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over his remarks, "How come all thieves have Modi as the common surname?" made during an election rally at Kolar in Karnataka that year.
The ongoing Assembly session will continue until March 25, and the state Budget for 2026-27 will be presented by Finance Minister Kanubhai Desai in the Assembly on February 18.