Thiruvananthapuram, May 21 (IANS) The stage is set for the first major political contest in the newly-constituted Kerala Legislative Assembly, with all three major fronts deciding to field candidates for Friday’s Speaker election even as the Congress-led UDF enjoys a comfortable numerical advantage in the House.

While the Treasury Bench has a strength of 102 in the 140 member house, the Left has 35 and the BJP three.

Senior Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan is poised for victory as the UDF nominee for Speaker, but both the Left Democratic Front and the BJP have chosen to enter the fray to assert their political presence in the new Assembly.

The LDF has fielded former minister and senior CPI(M) leader, A.C. Moideen, while the BJP has scripted a slice of Assembly history by nominating first time MLA, B.B. Gopakumar from Chathannoor.

This marks the first occasion in the history of the Kerala Assembly that the BJP is contesting a Speaker election.

The proposal for Gopakumar’s candidature will be moved by BJP legislators Rajeev Chandrasekhar and V. Muraleedharan.

The Deputy Speaker election will also be held on Friday, with the UDF fielding Shanimol Usman for the post.

Meanwhile, the swearing in of the newly-elected MLAs witnessed a blend of ceremony, political signaling and emotional moments as proceedings commenced under Pro-tem Speaker G. Sudhakaran.

Members were administered oath in alphabetical order.

The first MLA to take oath was Fisheries and Social Justice Minister, V.E. Abdul Gafoor, representing Kalamassery.

Several members took oath in the name of God, while others opted for a solemn affirmation.

Attingal MLA O.S. Ambika became the first woman member to be sworn in, while Manjeshwaram MLA A.K.M. Ashraf took oath in Kannada.

The House also witnessed politically symbolic moments involving former CPI(M) leaders V. Kunjikrishnan and T.K. Govindan, who won with UDF backing after parting ways with the Left.

Kunjikrishnan saluted Opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan while taking oath, while Govindan walked across to the Opposition benches to shake hands with the former Chief Minister, drawing applause from treasury benches.

Vijayan responded with a smile and rose from his seat to greet him warmly.

The Assembly will reconvene on May 29 for Governor Rajendra V. Arlekar’s policy address.

Discussions on the address will be held from June 1 to 3, while the new UDF government is expected to present its full budget in June.

The government is also preparing a White Paper on Kerala’s financial condition, signaling that the state’s fiscal situation will dominate the opening phase of the new administration.

–IANS

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