Thiruvananthapuram: Senior Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan was on Friday elected as the Speaker of the 16th Kerala Legislative Assembly. Radhakrishnan got 101 votes as Pro Tem Speaker G Sudhakaran did not cast his ballot. With this, Sudhakaran, a former CPI(M) leader who won as an independent candidate from Ambalapuzha constituency with UDF support, ceases to be the Pro Tem Speaker.
A C Moideen, fielded by the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), and BJP's B B Gopakumar were also in the fray for the post even though the Congress-led UDF enjoys a comfortable majority of 102 members in the 140-seat Assembly.
