P Sreeramakrishnan elected speaker; wins two votes from Opposition

CPM legislator P Sreeramakrishnan was elected the Speaker of the 14th Kerala Assembly. 

Sreeramakrishnan received 92 votes in the election held in the morning on the second day  of the first session of the new Kerala Assembly. His opponent, VP Sajeendran, the United Democratic Front (UDF) legislator from Kunnathunad got 46 votes in the 140 strong Assembly. Interestingly, one vote from the UDF camp went to Sreeramakrishnan.  

As the ruling Left Democratic Front has a big majority, the result of the election was on expected lines.  But latest reports suggest that  there is confusion in the voting. Out of the total of 140 MLAs, all except the Pro-tem speaker voted. The independent legislator and former Govt. Chief Whip from Poonjar PC George's vote went invalid.

The LDF has 91 members in the Assembly and the UDF 47. The BJP and Independents, one each. The Pro-tem speaker and LDF legislator S Sharma did not vote. So the total number of votes polled is 139. If the BJP's lone member O Rajagopal voted for the UDF, then two votes of the UDF must have lost two votes to the LDF. In case the BJP leader voted for the LDF, even then the UDF candidate lost one vote. 

Member statistics in the Assembly:

LDF- 91
UDF-47
BJP-1
Independent-1

Speaker polls
P Sreeramakrishnan- 92
VP Sajeendran- 46

 

Earlier, Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala had made it clear that his front did not want the help of the BJP or the independent candidate.

Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan admitted that the UDF lost one vote to the LDF in the Speaker elections. The Congress alleges that the BJP MLA voted for the LDF. But they are yet to ascertain how they lost one vote. 

The first session of the 14th Assembly was adjourned after the swearing-in of the new speaker. Pro-tem speaker S Sharma supervised the proceedings on Friday. The Assembly will reconvene on 24 June with the Governor's address. 

P Sreeramakrishnan

• Represents Ponnani Constituency in Malappuram. 
• Second stint as legislator
• son of P Govindan Nair and P Seetha Lakshmi. 
• Born at Perinthalmanna on 14th November 1967
• Education: BA, B.Ed. 
• Entered active politics through student politics.
• Was the Union Chairman and Senate Member of Calicut University. 
• Was elected Palakkad district Secretary of Students' Federation of India in 1988. 
• He was elected as the All India president of the DYFI in 2007. 
• Vice Chairman of Youth Welfare Board 2006-11. 

• New Kerala Speaker
• p sreerama krishnan
• speaker election