THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thalassery MLA AN Shamseer was elected Speaker of the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly on Monday.
The election was necessitated by the induction of former Speaker MB Rajesh into the Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet.
In the 140-member assembly, 136 votes were cast in the Speaker election through a secret ballot. While Shamseer bagged 96 votes, rival candidate Anvar Sadath of the Congres got 40 votes.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan and leaders of various political parties in the Assembly congratulated Shamseer on assuming the Speaker post.
45-year-old Shamseer, a two-time CPM MLA, is the 24th Speaker of the state legislative assembly.