Why no NOTA , PC George MLA writes on ballot in Dy.Speaker election

There were no surprises and no confusion that marked the Speaker election of the Kerala Assembly early this month in selecting the Left Democratic Front's (LDF) representative V Sasi as the Deputy Speaker of 14th Kerala Assembly on Wednesday.  

However, independent MLA PC George from Poonjar made a surprise move. Just as he did in the Speaker election, this time also, George chose to vote 'invalid.' But this time, he scribbled "why no NOTA," he wrote on the secret ballot and signed underneath. In the absence of NOTA, the legislators who do not support either of the candidates have no choice but to abstain or post it invalid. 
 

In the Deputy Speaker election Sasi, the  Communist Party of India's (CPI)  legislator from Chirayankeezhu, received 90 votes and while his rival IC Balakrishnan of the United Democratic Front (UDF) got 45 votes.   

 In the 141-member assembly that includes the lone Anglo-Indian member MLA John Fernandez, the LDF has the support of 92 members and the UDF has 47 representatives. Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan and Anglo-Indian representative did not cast the vote.  Bharatiya Janata Party's O Rajagopal did not turn up for the Deputy Speaker election. UDF leaders Anoop Jacob and C Mammootty were also not present in the assembly. 

The election of Speaker held on June 4 was followed by a controversy after cross-voting in favour of the Left candidate. The lone BJP MLA O Rajagopal had voted for the LDF speaker candidate P Sreeramakrishnan, creating a buzz among political circles. 

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