THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sixty years ago, it all began with a call for order. “Order, order. The first item on the agenda is making of oath or affirmation by Members under Article 188 of the Constitution,” Rosamma Punnose, the Pro-Tem Speaker, announced on the morning of April 27, 1957, at what is today the Old Assembly Hall of the Secretariat. It was a Saturday, incidentally.
T Abdul Majeed, alphabetically number one, was the first to take the oath. Thus opened a chapter in Kerala history whose glittering memories will be rekindled on Thursday when the present Assembly - the 14th - holds a full day’s sitting at this historic venue.
On Tuesday at the hall, housekeeping staff were busy fluffing cushions, checking the microphones and generally making everything ship-shape for Thursday’s sitting.
The proceedings of the first session of the first Kerala Assembly is today preserved in a fat, sepia-tinted volume in the Assembly library. It reports the opening day’s business in this manner:
“The Kerala Legislative Assembly met for its first session after the general elections, at Eight of the Clock on Saturday, the 17th April 1957, in the Assembly Chamber, Trivandrum.” The eleven-member ministry led by E M S had assumed office on April 5, three weeks before the first session. P T Chacko was Leader of the Opposition.
Three ‘businesses’ were concluded on Day One of the Assembly: the taking of oath by 126 members, the election of the Speaker and, lastly, the address by Governor B Ramakrishna Rao. Incidentally, 60 years later, the Assembly never ever meets on a Saturday. The daily session begins at 8.30 am rather than 8 am. And the Governor’s Address, when it is made, is generally held in the mornings.
The first Speaker of the Kerala Assembly, Sankaranarayanan Thampi, was elected Speaker unopposed. “I may inform the House that up to the time fixed for receiving nominations, only one in favour of Sankaranarayanan Thampi has been received, proposed by E Gopalakrishna Menon and seconded by Narayanan Nambiar. It is found valid. There being only one candidate, no election seems necessary,” the Pro-Tem Speaker said. Sankaranarayanan Thampi was then conducted to the chair by Chief Minister E M S and the Opposition Leader P T Chacko. Thereafter, E M S, Chacko, Pattom Thanu Pillai and C H Mohammed Koya spoke.
Originally, the Speaker’s election was set for 1.30 pm, but since there was no election as such, the morning session adjourned by 9.55 am. The MLAs met again at 5 pm for Governor B Ramakrishna Rao’s policy address to the Assembly. After the speech, the Governor ‘departed in procession.’ “The Assembly adjourned at 5.35 pm to meet again at 8 am on Tuesday the 30th April, 1957,” the report concludes.