THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: N Sakthan of the Congress has been elected as the 21st Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly on Thursday. UDF candidate Sakthan polled 74 votes to defeat LDF’s P Aisha Potty who got 66 votes.
The LDF which has 65 members in the Assembly, got 66 votes after the backing of K B Ganesh Kumar of the Kerala Congress (B) which severed ties with the UDF on Wednesday after KC (B) leader R Balakrishna Pillai announcing the party’s decision to vote for Aisha Potty. With this, KC (B) has officially made its exit from the UDF.
On the other hand, as expected, Sakthan got 74 votes including that of Anglo Indian member Ludy Luis.
Sakthan, the legislator from Kattakkada, who was serving as the Deputy Speaker of the 13th Assembly, resigned on Tuesday.
The Speaker election was necessitated after the demise of G Karthikeyan on March 7. Sakthan is the 21st Speaker of the Kerala Assembly and the 19th individual to reach the position. He had served as Transport Minister in the Oommen Chandy Government in 2004.
Proceedings for the elections began at 9.30 a.m. with Pro tem Speaker Dominic Presentation in the Chair. The legislators cast their votes in the order of their seating in the House.
KPCC president V M Sudheeran was present at the VIP gallery during the voting.
K B Ganesh Kumar moving to the polling station near the Speaker’s podium, through the LDF benches as if in a determined move, invited some comments from the treasury benches while the Opposition members greeted it by thumbing on the desks. Obviously, the other members sitting on the same bench with Ganesh Kumar - UDF’s A A Azeez and Therambil Ramakrishnan - opted for the lengthier route by crossing the treasury benches.
After an about 50-minute poll, counting was carried out in the presence of UDF’s Benny Behnan and LDF’s A K Balan. After Protem Speaker Dominic Presentation announced results, newly-elected Speaker was led to the Chair by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan.
Opposition leader Achuthanandan urged the new Speaker to follow the great model set by his predecessor G Karthikeyan. Greeting Sakthan, on his election to the Speaker’s post, VS reminded the former to emulate the exemplary example of Karthikeyan.
‘’G Karthikeyan has set a great model of democratic values as the Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly. As a Speaker while conducting the government’s business, you should also ensure that the Opposition’s rights are protected. You have a serious responsibility to protect the democratic values. You have two different experiences in front of you. It was your predecessor who decided to have confidence on the legislators and not allow Watch and Ward inside the House. You are bound to follow the model set by him,’’ Achuthanandan said.
Earlier, speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said Sakthan’s vast experience as MLA, minister and deputy speaker would prove beneficial in his new responsibility.