Chennai: Ruling Congress legislator M.N.R. Balan was elected unopposed to the post of Deputy Speaker of Puducherry Assembly on Thursday.
He represents the Uzhavarkarai Assembly segment in Puducherry region and is the first time member to the House. Balan, who was also the chairman of the Puducherry government owned Transport Development Corporation (PTDC), had resigned the chairman post on Tuesday.
The post of Deputy Speaker fell vacant after V. P. Sivakolundhu was elevated the post of Speaker in June following the then Speaker V Vaithilingam was elected to Lok Sabha from the lone seat in the Union Territory in April this year. In the 30-member assembly, the ruling Congress party has 14 seats while its ally DMK has three. A lone independent candidate has extended support to Congress. On the opposition side, All India N R Congress has seven. AIADMK has four. There are three members (BJP) nominated to the legislative assembly.
