Assembly session begins, MLAs sworn in

Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 1 : A two-day session of the 13th Kerala Assembly began today with the swearing-in ceremony of the newly elected MLAs.

As many as 141 MLAs, including one Anglo Indian representative, were administered the oath of office and secrecy by pro-tem speaker N Sakthan.

The swearing-in of candidates began at 0900 hrs in the alphabetic order of their names.

Fourty-two MLAs are newcomers while among the old-timers are K M Mani, who is already the longest serving member of the House for the 12th time and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who is the second longest serving member by the 10th time.

A P Abdullakutty took the oath first as his name appeared first in the alphabetic order.

Ludy Lois is the Anglo-Indian representative.

Three members took oath in English, while one in Kannada and another member in Tamil. The UDF has 72 and the LDF 68 members in the Assembly.

Senior CPM leader and former Chief minister V S Achuthanandan too was sworn-in as member of the new House.

Meanwhile, A K Balan and G Karthikeyan, the LDF and UDF nominees for the post of Speaker, filed their nomination papers after the swearing-in ceremony.

The election of Speaker will be held tomorrow.

--UNI

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G Karthikeyan elected Speaker of Kerala Assembly

Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 2: Veteran Congress leader G Karthikeyan was elected as the Speaker of the 13th Kerala Legislative Assembly today.

As a nominee of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF), Mr Karthikeyan got 73 votes as against Left Democratic Front(LDF) nominee A K Balan's 68 votes.

All the 141 members, including pro-tem Speaker N Sakthan and nominated member Ludy Luis, cast their ballots.

As soon as the counting was over, the pro-tem speaker announced the results and led Mr Karthikeyan to the Speaker's chair.

Representing Aruvikkara in the Assembly, Mr Karthikeyan was born at Varkala on January 20, 1949. He entered politics through student movements and was a leader of Kerala Students Union (KSU). He holds a Bachelor of Laws degree.

He served as the State president of Kerala Students Union. He was a student member of senate of Kerala University and Secretary of Kerala University Union. He also held various posts in Youth Congress, including State General Secretary and State President. He was the General Secretary of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).

In the previous UDF Government, he was a minister. During the LDF Government, he was the Deputy leader of opposition in the Legislative Assembly.

--UNI

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Assembly session from Jun 24

Thiruvananthapuram, May 25 : Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy today said the Cabinet has decided to recommend the Governor to convene the Assembly from June 24 to July 20.

Briefing reporters after a Cabinet Meeting here, Mr Chandy said Vote on Account would be taken up during the session.

The process of the selection of new Deputy Speaker would be decided after June 2, he said.

It was also decided to form a Cabinet Sub Committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister for co-ordination between Panchayat, Rural and Urban Development Ministries.

The decision was taken following the allegation of Former State Finance Minister Dr Isaac Thomas that trifurcation of the Department of Local Self Government under three Ministries in the new UDF Government would deal a heavy blow to the three-decade-old decentralisation of local governace system.

Reacting to the allegation, the Chief Minister said the new Sub-Committee would be a permanent mechanism to ensure effective and speedy functioning of all the three departments.

--UNI

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V S to be Opposition leader in kerala assembly

Thiruvananthapuram, May 25 : Former Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan was today elected the leader of the opposition and CPI (M) Politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was elected as deputy leader.

They were elected in the CPM parliamentary party meeting held here.

Talking to reporters here after the meeting, Party state unit Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said former minister M A Baby has been elected as the chief whip and A K Balan as the legislative party secretary.

Most of the members who participated in the meeting were all in praise for Mr Achuthanadan for his spirited campaign during the elections. Most of the persons were of the opinion that the campaign led by the former chief minister had helped in the party's performance in the elections.

Mr Vijayan said the programmes put forward by Mr Achuthanadan as Chief Minister was a great attraction. "In all his election campaigns, there was huge crowd. But the Congress campaigns could not attract much crowd," he said.

--UNI

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Ango-Indian Associations seek representation in Assembly

Kochi, May 21 : The Union of Ango-Indian Assoications today urged the Congress-led UDF government in Kerala to nominate the Ango-Indian representataive to the state Assembly from the panel of names submitted by the association.

Talking to reporters here, association office bearers Col L Oliver and Joseph Gilroy Louis said only the representative nominated from the community would be able to work for the welfare of the Ango-Indian Community.

During the past ten years, the nominated representatives had been working against the interest of the community, they alleged.

Stating that the UDF representative in 2002 utterly failed to safeguard the interest of the Ango-Indian community, they said if the UDF continued the same procedure, it would be an injustice to the Anglo-Indian Community.

The Association had already submitted a four-member panel, selected from their various organions, before the UDF to nominate the representative for the Anglo-Indians to the 13th Assembly, they added.

--UNI

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