Kerala Assembly Speaker resigns, to become minister

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 3 Kerala Assembly Speaker and senior CPI-M leader M.B. Rajesh resigned from his post on Saturday to join the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Cabinet.

The swearing-in of Rajesh is likely to be held on Tuesday, according to government sources. CPI-M state committee member and Thalassery MLA A.N. Shamseer will be the new Assembly Speaker.

The changes were effected after newly-anointed CPI-M state secretary M.V. Govindan resigned from the post of Urban Affairs and Excise Minister.

Govindan assumed office after incumbent state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was admitted to a private hospital in Chennai for cancer treatment. It was Balakrishnan who insisted that he would resign from the party post and not take a leave for his treatment.

Rajesh is a two-term Lok Sabha MP and a first-term MLA who had been an office-bearer of the SFI and the DYFI for many years. Shamseer is a second-term MLA who had headed both the SFI and the DYFI in the state.

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