New Assembly Speaker to be elected on August 14

Bengaluru: Karnataka Legislative Assembly will elect its new Speaker on August 14. Currently the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker are vacant, and Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on August 3 appointed senior Congress MLA T B Jayachandra as pro-tem Speaker until a Speaker is duly elected by the House.

“Under Sub-Rule 7(1) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, the Hon’ble Governor has fixed the 14th August, 2026, Friday as the date for the election of Speaker,” Karnataka Legislative Assembly said in a bulletin.

“At any time before 12.00 noon on Thursday, the 13th August, 2026, any Member may give notice in writing addressed to the Secretary, of a motion that another Member be chosen as the Speaker and the notice shall be seconded by a third member and shall be accompanied by a statement by the Member whose name is proposed in the notice that he is willing to serve as Speaker, if elected. Such Notice shall be delivered to the Secretary in person by the candidate, proposer or seconded,” it added.

The Speaker’s position became vacant following U T Khader’s induction into the cabinet on June 3. Deputy Speaker Rudrappa Lamani was subsequently officiating the Speaker’s role. On August 3, during the cabinet expansion Lamani too was inducted into Chief Minister D K Shivakumar-led cabinet.

The Congress high command has approved the names G S Patil, as the party’s nominee for the post of Speaker and A S Ponnanna for the post of Deputy Speaker. With the ruling Congress having a clear majority in the Assembly, they are likely to be elected, according to official sources.