Imphal, March 19: Thokchom Lokeshwar Singh today became the second youngest state Assembly Speaker in the country after Ajay Maken, who is now the Union youth affairs and sports minister.
Members of the Manipur Assembly today unanimously elected Lokeshwar Singh, 44, as the Speaker. No other MLA had filed nomination papers for the post.
Maken, who was first elected from Delhi constituency in 1993, was only 39 when he was elected Speaker of Delhi Assembly in 2004, becoming India’s youngest state Assembly Speaker.
Lokeshwar Singh was first elected on Congress ticket from Khundrakpam constituency in Imphal East in the 2007 byelection, which was held after the demise of his father, Thokchom Nabakumar Singh, an NCP MLA.
He was elected Deputy Speaker on July 30, 2010, and made the Speaker in-charge from September 30 to December 22, 2010, following the sudden demise of the then Speaker Sapam Budhichandra Singh.
Singh, who is very close to chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh, retained the Khundrakpam constituency in the recently concluded Assembly election. “I will uphold the dignity and decorum of the august house in the true spirit of parliamentary democracy,” Lokeshwar Singh said immediately after the election. He sought cooperation of the members of the house for smooth transaction of business.
Later, in a statement he said he would honour both the ruling and Opposition members without any partiality. “I will respect the sentiments and aspirations of all the ethnic groups while important issues of the state are being discussed in the house,” the statement said.
Felicitating the new Speaker, former Speaker Irengbam Hemochandra Singh described Lokeshwar Singh as a capable person would could uphold the dignity and decorum of the house.
Singh, who joined the Congress in 2004, describes himself as a “loyal soldier” of Manipur Congress.
A master’s degree holder in history, Lokeshwar Singh is married to Th. Nivedita Devi, a government employee. The couple have a one-year-old son.
He was born in Sagolmang Mamang Leikai in Imphal East.
