THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The 12th Kerala Assembly began its first session after the change of guard in the State with the swearing-in of the new members.

With the 2006 Assembly elections giving a massive mandate to the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), the combined Left has the best representation in the 12th Assembly.

Against a slender majority of one in the 126-member first Assembly in 1957, the Left has 85 members, 65 belonging to the CPI(M), 17 to the Communist Party of India (CPI) and three to the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), in the House which is celebrating its Golden Jubilee now.

As many as 64 of the 140 members in the House are first-timers and, in the LDF Government, there are only three Ministers - Paloli Mohammed Kutty, P.J. Joseph and S. Sarma - with previous experience. The House has only seven women members, all of them belonging to the ruling parties. Several stalwarts of Kerala politics, who were returned to the Assembly in almost all the recent elections, are missing from the House this time. They include K.R. Gouri, who had been returned to the House a record 10 times earlier, United Democratic Front (UDF) leaders R. Balakrishna Pillai, P.K. Kunhalikutty and T.M. Jacob, and K.C. Joseph of the Kerala Congress(J).

The senior-most member in the present House is Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan and the `baby' of the House is P.C. Vishnunath of the Congress. The former Minister K.M. Mani has the experience of having served in the House for the longest duration. This is his 10th visit to the House as an MLA. The former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is back in the House for the ninth time; Public Works Minister P.J. Joseph and the former Ministers Aryadan Mohammed of the Congress, C.F. Thomas of the Kerala Congress(M) and C.T. Ahammedali of the Indian Union Muslim League for the seventh time; K.C. Joseph for the sixth time; and Mr. Achuthanandan for the fifth time. The other fifth-time members are the former Speaker Therambil Ramakrishnan, the former Minister G. Karthikeyan (Congress) and P.C. George of the Kerala Congress(Secular).

The swearing-in of members took place before the Pro Tem Speaker V.J. Thankappan. The first to take the oath was P.K. Abdu Rabb. Mr. Achuthanandan took the oath as the fifth member and Mr. Chandy as the 75th member. While C.H. Kunhambu of the CPI(M) from Manjeswaram took the oath in Kannada, S. Rajendran from Devikulam took the oath in Tamil.

The stage is set for the election of the Speaker on Thursday. If there is no last-minute hitch, the State will have its first Dalit Speaker in K. Radhakrishnan of the CPI(M). The UDF has decided to field M. Murali of the Congress for the post but, given the composition of the House, it will be a no-contest. The CPI's Jose Baby is tipped to be the Deputy Speaker.

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