Senior BJP MLA and three-time Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Sunday filed his nomination for the post of the Speaker of the newly-elected Assembly.

Earlier, senior BJP MLA Ramvichar Netam was sworn in as the pro-tem speaker by the Governor ahead of the first session of the Assembly scheduled to start from December 19.

Pro-tem Speaker holds the post in the absence of a regular Speaker.

Raman Singh, 71 and MLA from Rajnandgaon, filed the nomination papers in the Assembly, an official statement said.

Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, Deputy Chief Ministers Arun Sao and Vijay Sharma, Congress legislature party leader Charan Das Mahant, who was the outgoing Speaker, and former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel were present on the occasion.

Senior leaders from both the ruling and opposition sides submitted proposals supporting Singh’s nomination.

After filing the nomination, Singh told reporters that his new responsibility will be to take everyone together.

He thanked Congress leaders Mahant and Baghel for supporting his nomination.

“I will be in a new role. My responsibility will be to strike a balance between the ruling and opposition camps,” Singh said.

Talking to reporters, Bhupesh Baghel said Raman Singh will be elected unopposed as the Speaker and congratulated him.

Baghel also congratulated Mahant, who was on Saturday elected as the Congress legislature party leader in Chhattisgarh.

Raman Singh, a seven-term MLA, won from Rajnandgaon seat for four consecutive terms: in 2008, 2013, 2018 and 2023.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha member in 1999 and appointed Union minister of state for commerce and industries in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

In the just ended elections, Singh defeated Congress’ Girish Dewangan by 45,084 votes.

Though the BJP suffered a massive defeat in 2018, Singh has earned the reputation of being an able administrator during his 15-year-long stint (2003 to 2018) as the Chief Minister.