Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan elected Speaker of 16th Kerala Assembly

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kottayam MLA and senior Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan has been elected as the Speaker of the 16th Kerala Legislative Assembly. He received the support of 101 members in the election. LDF candidate A C Moideen received 35 votes, while NDA candidate B B Gopakumar got three votes. A total of 139 members cast their votes. The voting process and announcement of results were conducted under the leadership of Pro-tem Speaker G Sudhakaran.

Chief Minister V D Satheesan and Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan together escorted Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan to the Speaker’s chair after the victory. One of the major highlights of the election was that, for the first time in the history of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, candidates from three political fronts contested for the Speaker’s post. Four nomination papers had been submitted in support of Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan’s candidature.