TVK MLA JCD Prabhakar elected speaker of 17th Tamil Nadu Assembly unopposed

JCD Prabhakar, MLA from the Thousand Lights constituency, was on Tuesday elected unopposed as the Speaker of the 17th Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

Prabhakar was accompanied by C Joseph Vijay, founder of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), during the proceedings.

As no other nominations were filed for the Speaker’s post, Prabhakar was declared elected unopposed.

The veteran leader submitted his nomination papers on Monday before Assembly Principal Secretary K Srinivasan.

Prabhakar, 73, is a former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MLA who joined TVK ahead of the recently concluded Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

Considered one of the senior-most legislators in the ruling alliance, he played an important organisational role during Vijay’s election campaign and was also involved in drafting the party’s manifesto.

His appointment is being seen as a key development in the newly formed TVK-led government in Tamil Nadu.

In the previous Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government, senior leader Duraimurugan served as the Leader of the House, while former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam held the position during the AIADMK regime between 2018 and 2021.

The election of Prabhakar comes amid significant political shifts in Tamil Nadu following the formation of the TVK-led government under Vijay.