Shanimol Usman elected Kerala Deputy Speaker, first woman in decades to hold post

Senior Congress leader Shanimol Usman has been elected as the Deputy Speaker of the 16th Kerala Assembly after defeating CPI candidate Mohammed Muhsin in a closely contested election held on Tuesday, June 2, 2026.

Shanimol, the Aroor MLA, secured 99 votes while Muhsin received 34 votes. The election saw abstentions from BJP MLAs and absences from a few legislators across both UDF and LDF. With this, Kerala Assembly gets a woman Deputy Speaker after nearly three and a half decades.