Thiruvananthapuram: P. Sreeramakrishnan of the CPM was elected the Speaker of the 14th Assembly on Friday amid charges of a nexus between the LDF and the BJP, cross-voting by a UDF legislator and an invalid vote cast by
Mr P.C. George, Independent.
Protem Speaker S. Sarma, who presided over the election, abstained from voting as per precedence. Mr Sreeramakrishnan, Ponnani MLA, obtained 92 votes (LDF strength is 91) and Mr V.P. Sajeendran from the UDF got 46 votes, one less than its strength. Mr O. Rajagopal of the BJP voted for Mr Sreeramakrishnan because of his name which has ‘Sree Rama’ and ‘Krishnan’ in it.
Mr O. Rajagopal explained his reason for voting for the LDF’s P. Sreeramakrishnan as Speaker later in his felicitation speech. Mr George put the ballot paper in the box without marking the vote. The votes were counted in the presence of counting agents A. Pradeep Kumar from the LDF and Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan from the UDF.
The result was announced by the protem Speaker. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala led him to the Speaker’s chair after the result was announced. The Speaker after assuming charge announced that Mr Ramesh Chennithala had been elected the Opposition Leader and Mr P.K. Kunhalikutty of the Muslim League the Opposition Deputy Leader.
Mr Pinarayi Vijayan, Mr Ramesh Chennithala and Parliamentary party leaders greeted the Speaker. The Assembly which was adjourned for the day after the elections will be reconvened on June 24 with the Governor addressing the Assembly. Soon after the elections, a controversy erupted with the UDF alleging a nexus between the LDF and the BJP. Mr Chennithala told reporters that the UDF did not need the cooperation of the BJP in the Assembly.
The party would examine how the UDF lost one vote. It may have happened due to inexperience, he said. However, Mr George told reporters that the cross-voting marked the beginning of the end of the UDF. “I was elected without the support of both the fronts and so supporting any front is not right. Hence, I made my vote invalid,” he said.
He also said Mr Rajagopal voted for the LDF and this was proof of the nexus between the two. Mr Rajagopal justified his voting in the felicitation speech saying that it was based on an expectation of the light of dharma contained in the name of Mr Sreeramakrishnan.
“Sree Rama is the embodiment of the dharma that sustained this land. Sree Krishna took birth to ensure that dharma. The name of the new Speaker is a combination of these two. So, I expect your interventions to be just,” said Mr Rajagopal.
Meanwhile, some sources in the UDF claimed that no cross-voting had happened. The argument was that one vote which actually belonged to the UDF was accidentally placed in the tray of the LDF candidate during counting. However, sources in the Assembly dismissed the claim.
Even if the vote was accidentally placed in the tray of Mr Sreeramakrishnan, it would have been noticed during counting as the counting was held in the presence of the counting agents of the two parties and also Assembly staff. Moreover, the UDF camp had not asked for recounting soon after the voting was over. Hence, it was now not possible to examine the veracity of their claims.
