THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The first session of the 15th Legislative Assembly began today at 9 am with the oath-taking of the members of the house, under strict COVID-19 protocol.

Kunnamangalam MLA P T A Rahim, who was appointed as the pro-tem speaker administered the oath of office. The members of the Legislative Assembly were called by name and invited to take oath in the English alphabetical order. Vadakkancherry MLA Xavier Chittilappally was the last to take the oath. Out of 140 members in the assembly, 53 were newcomers. Manjeswaram MLA AKM Ashraf was sworn in in Kannada.

The MLAs should hand over to the Assembly Secretary a certificate issued by the Election Commission stating that they have been elected before taking the oath of office. This is within the scope of the Anti-Corruption Act.

Only the oath-taking took place on the first day when the Assembly was convened. The seating arrangements have been arranged to maintain social distancing. The second consecutive CPI(M)-led LDF government under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was sworn in on May 20 at the Central Stadium here.

On his 76th birthday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote himself into assembly records when he took oath as a legislator on the floor of the Kerala Legislative Assembly on Monday. This is the first time in 42 years that a sitting Left government is getting a second term in office.

Vijayan arrived early and was seen exchanging pleasantries with his fellow treasury bench legislators.

As some legislators are undergoing quarantine they may not be able to attend the Assembly session on Monday. K Babu, A Vincent have informed about their absence. They will be sworn in later.

Seating is in alphabetical order for all except senior members. Ministers, meanwhile, will receive seats reserved for them. After the swearing-in, the members must sign the church register and return to their seats. After the swearing-in, the assembly adjourned today.

The Assembly will not be convened on May 26 and May 27. Governor Arif Mohammed Khan will address the Assembly with his usual policy address on May 28. The last policy address of the previous government was on January 21. As there is a continuance of governance, it is not known if the same policy will continue or new announcements will be done.

On June 4, finance minister K N Balagopal will present the revised budget. Though the Assembly session was planned for 14 days till June 14, there is an element of uncertainty due to the covid situation.

Speaker Election Tomorrow
The election to the post of the speaker will take place on Tuesday. The nominations were filed by Monday afternoon. M B Rajesh from the ruling front will be the Left candidate. PC Vishnu Nath is the UDF candidate.

75 MLAs are old-timers
Seventy-five legislators of the 14th assembly were elected again to the new Assembly. The seniormost is Oommen Chandy and he is entering the Assembly continuously for the 12th time.

Study class for new MLAs online
The Assembly proceedings will be made familiar to the new legislators and as they cannot gather together, the Assembly secretariat is mulling to conduct online classes for them.