BJP's Selvam elected Speaker of Puducherry Assembly

BJP MLA ‘Embalam’ R Selvam was on Wednesday elected as Speaker of Puducherry Assembly, in the first signs of overcoming differences between the saffron party and All India N R Congress.

Selvam was elected unopposed by pro-term Speaker K Lakshminarayanan of the AINRC. The election of the Assembly Speaker comes 45 days after the results of the April 6 Assembly elections were announced.

Though the AINRC allotted Speaker’s post to its ally BJP, the two parties are yet to come to an agreement on the allocation of the portfolio. Chief Minister N Rangasamy is yet to expand his month-old Cabinet, and the unanimous election of Speaker is set to roll out the process.

According to the agreement, the post of Puducherry Assembly Speaker and two Cabinet ministers were allotted to BJP. Even after agreeing on the terms, the two parties are yet to agree on the date for the expansion of the Cabinet.

Persisting differences between the two parties had delayed the Cabinet expansion – only Rangasamy took oath on May 7 – with both parties sticking to their known stands.

The AINRC won 10 seats, while the BJP emerged victorious in six seats and its strength in the Assembly now stands at nine, thanks to the Centre’s power to appoint three nominated members. The DMK won six, Congress two, and Independents six.

The BJP, which lost all seats it contested in the 2016 Assembly polls, allied with AINRC, and AIADMK for the April 6 elections. The party which lacked a toehold in the Union Territory till a few months ago poached a few senior Congress leaders and gave them seats to contest.

The BJP also got nine seats in the alliance, much higher than the AIADMK, which had four members in the previous Assembly. The AIADMK drew a blank this time.