Radhakrishnan elected as Speaker in Kerela

CPI(M) member is the Speaker of 12th Kerala Legislative Assembly.

CPI(M) member and former minister, K Radhakrishnan was on Thursday elected as Speaker of the 12th Kerala Legislative Assembly.

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Radhakrishnan, representing the Chelakkara constituency, is the first person from the Scheduled Castes to be elected Speaker of the state Assembly. He had been elected to the Assembly thrice and was Minister for SC/ST welfare in the 1996-2001 EK Nayanar government.

In the elections held in the morning, he beat M Murali of Congress by a margin of 53 votes. Radhakrishnan polled 93 votes while Murali got 40 in the 140-member House.

Both the candidates and the pro-tem speaker VJ Thankappan did not vote. Abdul Khader, Thomas Issac and Mathai Chacko from the Left Front and Varkala Kahar from the opposition UDF were absent.

The House was adjourned after the election of the Speaker.