MLAs to take oath on June 1

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The first session of the 13th Kerala Assembly will begin on Wednesday with the swearingin ceremony of the members. The major highlight of the session will be the election to the Speaker post which will be held on June 2.The election assumes significance as the UDF has only a slender majority in the House. The LDF has a strength of 68 members and the UDF, 72 members in the House.N Sakthan of the Congress has been appointed the pro tem Speaker and Ludy Luiz has been selected as the AngloIndian nominee in the House.In the Speaker election, the UDF will have a strength of 72 members, excluding the pro tem Speaker and hence it will not be a difficult task for the UDF to get its nominee elected.Two former Power Ministers are in the race for the Speaker post from the rival fronts. G Karthikeyan of the UDF will be taking on A K Balan of the LDF. The election will be through secret ballot and hence any mistake committed by a member will prove costly. On Wednesday, there will be no official business in the House other than the swearingin of the members. The members will be sworn in in the alphabetical order. A P Abdulakutty of the Congress will be the first one to be sworn in by the protem Speaker.P C Vishnunath will be the last among the elected members to be sworn in followed by nominated member Ludy Luiz. The House will adjourn after the Speaker election and assemble again for the budget session on June 24.