PUDUCHERRY: Amidst boycott by the entire opposition, VP Sivakozhunthu assumed office as Speaker of the Territorial Assembly on Monday after he was elected unopposed on the previous day. Prior to his elevation as Speaker, Sivakozhunthu held the post of the Deputy Speaker for three years, after he became an MLA for the first time in 2016.R K R Anantharaman, a member of Speaker’s panel, who presided over the House on Monday, announced the election of Sivakozhunthu unopposed as he was the only nomination filed when the filing of nomination came to a close at 1200 hours on Sunday.
The opposition did not put up any candidate to contest for the Speaker’s post. Following this Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, his cabinet colleagues and DMK legislature party leader R Siva led Sivakozhnthu to his chair. The entire opposition comprising AINRC, AIADMK and BJP boycotted the Speaker’s election. Congress MLA and Parliamentary Secretary to CM K Lakshminarayanan also stayed away, after the party preferred to elect Sivakozhunthu over him, despite him being a former minister and a four-time MLA.
The opposition parties objected to the election held at short notice and maintained that it was against the law. They demanded the postponement of the election and that it be conducted after giving adequate time to the members. The opposition had submitted a memorandum to Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi seeking to cancel the election. But the Speaker’s election was held as scheduled. They maintained that it was a “murder of democracy” as adequate time was not given to the members.
The Chief Minister, however, appealed to the opposition parties to attend the session. He also cited instances from the past when the Speaker election was held at short notice. Reminding the Leader of Opposition N Rangasamy and opposition parties, Narayanasamy said that in 2011 when Rangasamy was in power, the election of Speaker was conducted on June 29 after announcing it on June 26, 2011, and told them not to forget this precedent.
Earlier the CM, his Cabinet colleagues and the entire ruling party members including the independent member from Mahe, Ramachandran and the new DMK member Venkatesan who was elected from the Thattanchavady Assembly constituency in the by-election held on April 18 greeted the Speaker.
Accepting the greetings of the members, Sivakozhunthu assured that he would conduct the House upholding democratic principles in an impartial way. He also corrected Agriculture Minister R Kamalakannan who said that former PCC president and former parliament member P Shanmugham also held the post of Speaker here. Sivakzhunthu said that it was not the former PCC member, but was Muthialpet MLA Shanmugham. Later he adjourned the House sine die.
AIADMK may take legal action
Puducherry: AIADMK legislature party leader A Anbazhagan said the party would initiate legal action against the Speaker election in consultation with its high command. After boycotting the election, he said that as per rules, the Speaker election needed to be notified 14 days before the election. He charged that the government had violated the rules by notifying election on Saturday and closing the nominations by 1200 hours on Sunday. Even in elections conducted by the Election Commission, no nominations are collected on Saturday and Sunday. The act of the Congress government here amounts to a ‘murder of democracy’, he said.