File photo: Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath
Former Parliamentary Affairs Minister and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath has been appointed as the Protem Speaker in the new Lok Sabha.
A notification issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat said President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed him to perform the duties of the Speaker.
The Narendra Modi government had recently conveyed its recommendation to President Pranab Mukherjee to appoint Mr Nath, who is the senior most member of the Lower House, as Protem Speaker.
The Protem Speaker performs the duties of the office of the Speaker from the commencement of the sitting of the Lok Sabha till the election of the Speaker.
Kamal Nath, who was Minister for Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs in the last government, won from his pocketborough of Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh for the ninth term.