The first Speaker of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly was:

Pandit Kunjilal Dubey was the first Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the new state of Madhya Pradesh, formed on 1 November 1956.

Formation of Madhya Pradesh:

• Madhya Pradesh was reorganised under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.
• It was formed by merging the former states of Madhya Bharat, Vindhya Pradesh and Bhopal with the Hindi-speaking areas of the old Madhya Pradesh (formerly the Central Provinces and Berar).
• Bhopal was chosen as the capital.

About Pandit Kunjilal Dubey:

• He was a lawyer and educationist from Jabalpur.
• He took part in the freedom movement and was associated with the Congress party.
• He served as Speaker for a long period, from 1956 to 1967, and was known for his fairness and knowledge of parliamentary rules.
• He later served as a minister in the state government.
• The Kunjilal Dubey Rashtriya Sansadiya Vidyapeeth, an institute for training in parliamentary studies in Bhopal, is named after him.

First Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh:

Pandit Ravishankar Shukla was the first Chief Minister of the reorganised state, and he died within a few weeks of taking office.

Role of a Speaker:

• The Speaker presides over the Legislative Assembly and maintains order.
• He is elected by the members of the Assembly from among themselves under Article 178.
• He decides whether a bill is a Money Bill and rules on disqualification for defection.

Later changes to Madhya Pradesh:

• A new state was later carved out of its south-eastern part.
• Madhya Pradesh is now the second-largest state of India by area, after Rajasthan.
• Its Assembly has 230 seats.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Pandit Ravishankar Shukla was the first Chief Minister.
• ✗Kashi Prasad Pandey and Gulsher Ahmed were later Speakers of the Assembly.