Thiruvananthapuram

Senior Indian National Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan was on Friday elected Speaker of the 16th Kerala Legislative Assembly.

Radhakrishnan secured 101 votes in the election, while Pro Tem Speaker G Sudhakaran abstained from voting.

With the election completed, Sudhakaran — a former Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader who won as an Independent candidate from Ambalapuzha with UDF support — ceased to hold the post of Pro Tem Speaker.

The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) had fielded A C Moideen for the Speaker’s post, while the Bharatiya Janata Party nominated B B Gopakumar.

Moideen received 35 votes, while Gopakumar secured three votes in the 140-member House.

The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) currently enjoys a comfortable majority with 102 MLAs, while the LDF has 35 members and the BJP three.

Declaring the result, Sudhakaran described Radhakrishnan as a veteran parliamentarian and experienced political leader.

“Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan is a veteran political leader with great experience in political and parliamentary field. He is a former Home Minister who is simple and accessible to all,” Sudhakaran said.

Following the announcement, MLAs across party lines congratulated the newly elected Speaker.

Chief Minister V D Satheesan and Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan jointly escorted Radhakrishnan from his seat to the Speaker’s chair after Sudhakaran vacated it.

Sudhakaran embraced Radhakrishnan before returning to his own seat in the House.

Congratulating the new Speaker, Satheesan highlighted Radhakrishnan’s three decades of legislative experience and recalled his long political journey from student activism to ministerial responsibilities in successive Kerala governments.

Vijayan also praised Radhakrishnan’s administrative and parliamentary experience and said the opposition expected him to function as the guardian of the Assembly and uphold democratic traditions.

“The Speaker can only become the collective voice of the House by acknowledging the voice of the opposition. The opposition strongly believes that the newly elected Speaker will function in a democratic manner,” Vijayan said, assuring full cooperation from the opposition benches.

Industries Minister P K Kunhalikutty, Communist Party of India leader K Rajan and other legislators also extended greetings to Radhakrishnan.

BJP MLA Rajeev Chandrasekhar, speaking on behalf of the BJP-led NDA and its three MLAs, urged the Speaker to ensure equal opportunity for all legislators to raise public issues in the House.

“We all should be allowed to present in the House the problems of the people who elected us. We assure you of our complete support,” Chandrasekhar said.

Radhakrishnan, 76, hails from Thiruvanchoor in Kottayam district and began his political journey as a student activist in the All Kerala Balajanasakhyam before rising through the ranks of the Kerala Students Union and later the Youth Congress.

He served as general secretary of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee for several years.

Radhakrishnan was first elected to the Assembly from Adoor in 1991 and represented the constituency until 2006. Since 2011, he has represented Kottayam in the Assembly.

Over the years, he has handled several ministerial portfolios in various UDF governments, including Home, Revenue, Forests, Health, Parliamentary Affairs, Road Transport and Environment.

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While the UDF had announced his candidature earlier this week, the opposition fronts officially declared their nominees on Thursday.