140 members of 14th Kerala assembly to be sworn-in today

Thiruvanthapuram, June 1: All is set for the opening session of the 14th Kerala assembly, which will see 140 legislators being sworn-in on the first day on Thursday by pro-tem speaker S. Sarma. The first session will extend over two days, with the news members being sworn-in on Thursday. The speaker would be elected on Friday. As things stand now, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) has med two-time legislator P. Sreeramakrishn as its candidate while the opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) is yet to announce its pick. In the May 16 assembly poll, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led LDF swept the polls by winning 91 seats, with the UDF ending up with 47.

CPI-M leader Pirayi Vijayan, 72, was sworn in along with 18 cabinet ministers on May 25 by Kerala Governor P. Sathasivam.

The polls also saw the Bharatiya Jata Party (BJP) opening its account with former Union Minister and veteran O. Rajagopal, 86, winning the Nemom seat in the state capital, defeating two-time legislator V. Sivankutty of the CPI-M. Six-time legislator P.C. George, who in the past was with the LDF and UDF, this time won the polls as an independent candidate. Incidentally, the new house will also see two former chief ministers - Oommen Chandy and V.S. Achuthandan, 92, seated in the opposition and the treasury benches respectively. Another feature in the new house would be that 83 of them were members in the 13th Kerala Assembly, while 44 of them are new faces, while 13 are returning after a gap. There are eight women in the treasury benches, while there will be none in the opposition benches. (IANS)