Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Assembly on Monday elected CPM's Thalassery MLA AN Shamseer as the new Speaker.
UDF candidate and Aluva MLA Anwar Sadath secured 40 votes against the LDF nominee who received 96 votes.
Shamseer in the 24th Speaker of the Kerala Legistlature.
"AN Shamseer is a leader who displays maturity beyond his age," Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said after congratulating the new Speaker.
"Shamseer is now a part of our history. We hope the new Speaker will protect the rights of the Oppositition," Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan said.
The Speaker election was held during an assembly meet held as a continuance of the last session. Although the legislative session concluded on September 1, the Cabinet did not prorogue the session.
The Speaker post fell vacant after MB Rajesh was appointed as Kerala's Minister for Local Self Government to fill in CPM State Secretary MV Govindan's shoes.