Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan elected speaker of Kerala Assembly

THiruvananthapuramVeteran us congress leader Thiruvanchoor sir sarvepalli radhakrishnan was elected talker of the 16th Kerala Legislative assemblage on fri.Radhakrishnan, 76, is an eight-time MLA and the senior-most Congress legislator in the current Assembly.In the election to the Speaker’s post, Radhakrishnan secured 101 votes, while AC Moideen of the CPI(M) received 35 votes and BJP’s BB Gopakumar got three votes.The election of Radhakrishnan as Speaker was a foregone conclusion as the Congress-led UDF has a brute majority of 102 in the 140-member Assembly.Pro tem Speaker G Sudhakaran, who presided over the proceedings, did not cast his vote.After his election, Radhakrishnan was escorted to the Speaker’s dais by chief minister VD Satheesan and leader of opposition Pinarayi Vijayan, in keeping with Assembly tradition.Chief minister Satheesan hailed Radhakrishnan’s political and legislative achievements over the last three-and-a-half decades and said the veteran leader was fit for the Assembly’s top post.“From 1991 to 2011, he represented Adoor Assembly constituency, and from 2011 to the present following delimitation, he has been elected from Kottayam constituency continuously. He served as a model for many of us on how to function as an effective and responsible MLA in a constituency. He would often travel to his constituency from the state capital on most days to participate in events and functions there. So both inside and outside the Assembly, he has been inspirational for us,” said the chief minister.Leader of opposition Pinarayi Vijayan said he hoped that Radhakrishnan would give equal space and time to the opposition to present its arguments, just as the treasury benches.“Past predecessors in the post have argued that the Speaker must show self-restraint in not turning into an umpire appointed by the batting side. We strongly believe that the newly-appointed Speaker would not need to be reminded of the democratic ethos and ideals attached to the post,” said Vijayan.In the recent Assembly elections, Radhakrishnan won from the Kottayam constituency, defeating CPI(M)’s K Anilkumar by a margin of 35,986 votes.It was his fourth consecutive victory from the urban seat.He has also been elected four times from Adoor in Pathanamthitta district before the constituency was reserved for the Scheduled Caste community.Radhakrishnan has previously served two terms as minister in UDF governments — from 2004 to 2006 and again from 2011 to 2016.During his ministerial stints, he handled several portfolios, including home, vigilance, revenue, forest and health.