The 13th Kerala Assembly on Thursday elected N Sakthan of the Congress as its new Speaker. Sakthan, MlA of the Congress-led UDF from Kattakkada constituency in Thiruvananthapuram district, polled 74 of the total 140 votes. The election was necessitated by the death of Speaker G Karthikeyan on March 7.
There was no drama in the election as the victory of Sakthan was certain in the House where the UDF had 74 MlAs including one nominated Anglo-Indian member while the CPI(M)-led Opposition lDF had 65 MlAs. The election process started at 9.30 am and concluded by 11.00 am. Though the lDF has only 65 MlAs, its Speaker candidate Aisha Potti of the CPI(M) polled 66 votes as former Minister KB Ganesh Kumar, MlA of the Kerala Congress (B) which had on Wednesday announced its decision to quit the ruling UDF, voted for her. It is not yet clear whether the KC(B), a founder-member of the UDF, will join the lDF.
After the election, CM Chandy and Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan jointly led Sakthan to the Speaker’s podium and chair following which leaders of different parties delivered felicitation speeches. Sakthan, 21st Speaker, had also served as the Pro-tem Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the current Assembly.