Former Minister and five-time Congress MLA UT Khader was unanimously elected as the new Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Wednesday. Khader (53) will be the first Muslim leader and the youngest to serve as Speaker of Karnataka Assembly.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah proposed Khader's name for the post of Speaker and it was seconded by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar. As there was no other contender for the post, Protem Speaker RV Deshpande put the proposal made by the Chief Minister to vote, and it was unanimously adopted by the House.

The Congress in Karnataka assembly elections this year?won an absolute majority in the states with victory in 135 seats. UT Khader won?for the fifth time from the Mangalore constituency. On Monday, Senior leader RV Deshpande acted as protem Speaker to administer the oath to 182 of the 224 MLAs.

UT Khader is the son of a former Congress MLA from the Ullal constituency. He?pursued an L.L.B Degree from S.D.M Law College under Mangalore University in 2003.?He entered politics in 2007 after the demise of his father who won the seat in the 1972, 1978, 1999 and 2004 elections.

He was chosen as a minister in the Siddaramaiah government, and was initially given the Health and Family Welfare portfolio?but was later?assigned the Food and Civil Supplies Ministry.

In the 2018 Karnataka state assembly elections, Khader was the only Congress MLA to win the election in Dakshina Kannada and in the Udupi district as he defeated BJP candidate Santhosh by a margin of 19,739 votes.

In the 2023 assembly election, Khader retained the seat by receiving over 52.01 percent of votes from the Mangalore constituency.

(With inputs from PTI)