Guwahati, May 29: Lawyer-turned-politician Tanka Bahadur Rai today became the Speaker of the 12th Assam Assembly, a role he is not unfamiliar with after being predecessor Prithibi Majhi’s deputy for five years.

Rai, 55, was elected unanimously after pro tem Speaker G.C. Langthasa administered the oath of office to the newly- elected members. Barring Pradip Hazarika of the AGP, who is recuperating from bullet wounds inflicted by suspected Ulfa militants just before the election results were declared, all the legislators were present at the first sitting of the 126-strong Assembly.

Chief minister Tarun Gogoi was the first to take oath, the rest following in alphabetical order. Family members and relatives of the legislators watched the ceremony from the visitors’ gallery.

Some eyebrows were raised when Bithika Dev, Congress legislator from Silchar, took oath despite continuing to hold the post of chairperson of the Silchar Municipal Corporation.

Bithika, wife of Union minister Sontosh Mohan Dev, is understood to have refused to give up the municipal corporation chief’s post.

Apart from Rai’s election as Speaker, obituary references were made during the first sitting. The Assembly condoled the death of BJP leader Pramod Mahajan and poet-lyricist Keshab Mahanta, among others.

Governor Ajai Singh will address the House tomorrow. The three-day session will end on Wednesday with the election of a deputy speaker. The ruling Congress has named Pranati Phukan as its candidate for the post. None of the Opposition parties has yet nominated anyone.

Rai was the deputy Speaker of the last Assembly. He was tipped to go a notch higher after defeating his former political guru, AGP president Brindaban Goswami, in the election to the Borcholla seat. Goswami had also contested the Tezpur seat, which he won.