First session of 15th Assembly begins, MLAs take oath

136 legislators take oath under the supervision of pro-tem Speaker P T A Rahim; three MLAs unable to attend swearing in; speaker to be elected today

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan greets Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan before the start of the first session of the15th Legislative Assembly on Monday | PRD Photo

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The first session of the 15th legislative assembly began on Monday with the swearing in of newly-elected MLAs. A total of 136 MLAs took the oath under the supervision of P T A Rahim, MLA, who was sworn in pro-tem Speaker by the Governor last week. 

Three MLAs could not attend the swearing in. While minister V Abdurahiman was absent due to ill health, Kovalam MLA M Vincent and Nenmara MLA K Babu could not attend as they were in Covid quarantine. The MLAs took the oath in alphabetical order — beginning with Vallikkunnu MLA Abdul Hameed and ending with Wadakkanchery MLA Xavier Chittilappilly.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, whose 76th birthday fell on Monday, was the 132nd MLA in the alphabetical order to the take the oath. Newly-appointed Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan took the oath at No. 107. Whle Satheesan was seated in the Opposition leader’s chair in the front row, his predecessor Ramesh Chennithala moved to the second row in the Opposition benches. 

In the treasury benches, LSG Minister M V Govindan was seated next to the Chief Minister in the front row. Besides the ministers from LDF constituent parties, two more CPM nominees in the cabinet K Radhakrishan and K N Balagopal also found a place in the front row. Former ministers K K Shailaja, M M Mani, Kadakampally Surendran and A C Moideen moved to the third row to accommodate new ministers in the second row. 

Despite the chief minister repeatedly urging people to wear double facemasks to combat the Covid pandemic, politicians seem to be not taking it seriously. MLAs A N Shamseer, Oommen Chandy and M Noushad arrive at the assembly to attend the first session on Monday without wearing masks properly | B P Deepu

Vadakara MLA and RMP leader K K Rama attended the assembly session wearing a badge with the picture of her slain husband T P Chandrasekharan. She was greeted by loud cheers from the opposition benches after she took the solemn oath. Earlier, while speaking to reporters, she said TP’s voice will resonate in the Assembly through her.

Three CPM MLAs — minister Veena George, Daleema and Antony John took oath in the name of God, while the others took the solemn oath. Muvattupuzha MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan and Pala MLA Mani C Kappan took the oath in English, Devikulam MLA A Raja took the oath in Tamil and Manjeshwaram MLA A K M Asharf in Kannada. The election to the Speaker’s post will be held on Tuesday. While Thrithala MLA M B Rajesh is LDF’s Speaker candidate, UDF has decided to field Kundara MLA P C Vishnunadh as its candidate.