UT Khader, a former Karnataka minister and five-time MLA, has been unanimously elected as the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, May 24. Winning from the Mangalore constituency in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly Elections, Khader will become the first Muslim to hold the position of Speaker in the Karnataka Assembly. With no other contenders for the post, Pro-term Speaker RV Deshpande put forth the proposal made by the Chief Minister for a vote, and it was unanimously accepted by the House.
There were initial speculations regarding potential candidates for the Speaker post, including RV Deshpande, TB Jayachandra, and HK Patil. However, the Congress party made a last-minute decision to nominate UT Khader, who previously served as the Deputy Leader of Opposition. Khader made his political debut during the 2007 by-poll in the Ullal constituency, which later became the Mangalore constituency after the delimitation in 2008. He contested following the passing of his father UT Fareed, the incumbent MLA at the time. Since then, he has consistently emerged victorious in subsequent elections held in the Mangalore constituency.
On Tuesday, May 23, Khader formally submitted his nomination papers for the Speaker's position at the Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru. The Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister signed the nomination papers, expressing their support for Khader's candidacy.
During the period of 2013-2018, Khader held the positions of Health Minister and Food and Civil Supplies Minister in the government led by Siddaramaiah. In the JD(S) and Congress coalition government from 2018-2019, Khader took charge of the Housing and Urban Development portfolios.