Kerala Legislative Assembly
Unicameral assembly
Headquarters – Thiruvananthapuram
Total No. of Members – 140

The Kerala Legislative Assembly, aka Kerala Niyamasabha, is made up of 140 representatives of 140 constituencies of Kerala. Each elected member from these constituencies is known as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).

The article below shows a brief history of the Kerala Legislative Assembly. Many of these one-liners are often asked in various PSC exams.

 Kerala Legislative Assembly for PSC

  • Chairman of the assembly – Speaker.
  • Leader of the Assembly – Chief Minister of the State.
  • The Legislature comprises the governor, the chief minister, and the ministers of the state.
  • Early Legislative Assemblies of Kerala – 
    • Travancore Kerala Legislative Assembly (1888)
      • First Native Legislature in the British India – Travancore Legislative Council (1888)
    • Sree Moolam Praja Sabha (October 1, 1904).
    • Cochin Kerala Legislative Assembly (1925).
  • Kerala State Formation – November 1, 1956.
  • First General Election – February 28 - March 11, 1957.
  • First Kerala Legislative Assembly – April 5, 1957.
    • Total No. of Members – 127 +1 (nominated Anglo-Indian).
    • Total No. of Women Members – 6.
    • No. of Ministers – 11.
    • No. of Woman Ministers – 1.
  • First Kerala Ministry was led by – E.M.S Namboothirippad.
  • First session of first (1959) Kerala Legislative Assembly – 72 days.
  • First Kerala Ministry was dismissed on – July 31, 1959.
  • Current Kerala Legislative Assembly –  15th.
    • Total no. of members – 140.
  • First by-election in the history of the Kerala Legislative Assembly – Devikulam.
  • Hung Parliament happened in Kerala in the year  – 1965.
  • The Assembly which had the shortest term – the 6th Kerala Assembly (1980-1982).
  • The Assembly which had the longest period – the 4th Kerala Assembly (C. Achuthamenon Ministry 1970-77).
  • Golden Jubilee year of Kerala Assembly – April 2006. 
    • Silver Jubilee year – 1982.
  • The foundation stone for the new Niyamasabha Building was laid by – Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy (1979).
  • The new Niyamasabha Building was inaugurated by – K. R. Narayanan (May 22,1998).
  • First State in India to introduce ballot paper – Kerala (Devikulam by-election of 1957).
  • Electronic Voting Machine was used for the first time in India is in Kerala in – Paravur (By-election 1982).
  • Electronic Voting Machine was used for all the 140 constituencies on – May 10, 2001.
  • President of India who addressed a state assembly for the first in Indian history –  K.R. Narayanan (Kerala Legislative Assembly,  September 18, 1997).
  • First Prime Minister who addressed Kerala Legislative Assembly – Jawaharlal Nehru.
  • First State Legislature to launch a private Television Channel to telecast assembly proceedings – Kerala Legislative Assembly (Sabha TV).
  • Name the Governor gave the shortest policy address in the history of the Kerala Assembly – Arif Mohammed Khan.

Speakers of Kerala

  • First Speaker of Kerala – R. Sanakaranarayanan Thampi.
  • First pro-tem Speaker of the Kerala Assembly – Rosamma Punnouse.
    •  First member of the Legislative Assembly – Rosamma Punnouse.
    • First Speaker who completed the term of five years – M. Vijayakumar. 
      • Speaker who had the longest tenure – M. Vijayakumar. 
    • First Woman to become deputy speaker – K.O. Aiysha Bai (1957).
    • Head of Secretariat – Legislative Secretary.
    • First Chief Secretary of Kerala – NES Raghavanachari (1956).
    • First Woman Chief Secretary of Kerala – Padma Ramachandran (1990).



    Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA)

    • First Woman to become a nominated member of any Legislature in India – Mary Poonen Lukose (Travancore Legislative Assembly, 1922).
    • First Woman to become an elected member of a Legislative Assembly in India – Thottakkattu Madhavi Amma (Cochin Kerala Legislative Assembly, 1925).
    • First member to issue a notice for a no-confidence motion in Kerala Legislative Assembly – C.G. Janardhanan (2nd Assembly, 1961).
    • First Member of Kerala Legislative Assembly to die in office – Dr. A.R. Menon (Cochin State, 1942).
    • First Communist to be elected to a Legislative Assembly – K. Ananthan Nambiyar (Madras Legislative Assembly, 1946).
    • First MLA who took oath into the Kerala Legislative Assembly – Rosamma Punnouse.
    • First elected MLA who took oath outside the Kerala Assembly – Mathai Chacko ( 12th Assembly; May 29, 2006).
      • Speaker at the time – K. Radhakrishnan.
      • He was having treatment for leukemia at the time, and the swearing-in ceremony took place at the Lake Shore Hospital.
    • An MLA who, although being sworn in, was unable to attend a single session of the Assembly – Mathai Chacko ( passed away on October 13, 2006).
    • Longest served Member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly –  Oommen Chandy (18278 days). 
      • Previous record holder for Longest served Member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly – K.M. Mani (15544 days). 
      • The member who has been elected from the same constituency for the maximum number of times (11 times since 1965 from Pala Constituency).
    • Longest Served Woman MLA – K.R. Gowri.  
    • Shortest Served MLA –  C. Haridas (10 days in February 1980).
    • First Person to become part of most no. Kerala assemblies – K.R. Gowri (12 times).
    • First Person (MLA) to be disqualified through a court order – Rosamma Punnose.
    • First Dalit Woman MLA  in the pre-independent Kerala – Dakshayani Velayudhan (Cochin Legislative Council, 1945).
    • Oldest member in the history of the Kerala Legislative Assembly – C. Achuthanandan (87 years old in 2011).
    • Youngest member in the history of the Kerala Legislative Assembly – R. Balakrishnan Pillai (25 years, 1960).
    • The Member of Kerala Legislative Assembly who got the highest margin of votes – K.K. Shailaja (60,963 votes, Mattannur constituency, 2021).
    • The Member who got the lowest margin of votes – A. A. Aziz (against Muslim League's TA Ahmed Kabir, 5 votes, 2001).
    • The (only) member who has been elected to the Assembly unopposed – M. Umesh Rao (Manjeswaram, 1957).
    • First IAS officer to become a member in Kerala Legislative Assembly – Alphons Kannanthanam (2006).
    • The first person to be disqualified from the Kerala Legislative Assembly as a result of the Anti-Defection Law – R. Balakrishna Pillai (by speaker Varkala Radhakrishnan, 1989).
    • Highest number of women MLAs – 13 (Third E.K. Nayanar Ministry, 1996).
    • First Anglo-Indian Nominee – William Hamilton D'Cruz (1957).
    • The Anglo-Indian Member who served for the longest period – Stephen Padua.
    • Last Anglo-Indian Nominee – John Fernandez (2016)**

    Ministers of Kerala

    • First Woman Minister – K.R. Gowri.  
      • Longest-serving woman minister – K.R. Gowri.
    • The architect of the Kerala Education Bill – Joseph Mundassery.
    • Longest term as Minister – K.M. Mani.
    • Shortest term as Minister – M.P. Veerendrakumar (5 days, April 1987).
    • First minister who hold the office, defeated in a by-election – K. Muraleedharan (Wadakkancherry, 2004).
    • First person who is a minister without becoming MLA or facing the legislature – K. Muraleedran (A. K. Antony Ministry of 2004).
    • First Actor to become a minister in Kerala Legislative Assembly – K.B. Ganesh Kumar (Minister of Transport, 2001-03).
    • First Malayali Minister who later became Kerala High Court Judge and Supreme Court Judge – V.R. Krishna Iyer (1968 & 1973).
    • Youngest Minister in Kerala Legislative Assembly – Ramesh Chennithala (28 years old, 1986).
    • First minister of Kerala Legislative Assembly to die in office – V.K. Velappan (1962).

    Budget

    • Longest Budget Speech – Dr. Thomas Isaac (3 hrs 17 min, January 15, 2021).
      • Second Longest Budget Speech – Oommen Chandy (2 hrs 54 min, 2016).
    • Shortest Budget Speech – E. K. Nayanar (then CM, 6 minutes, March 28, 1987).
    • First CM who presented Budget – R.Sankar.

    Chief Ministers of Kerala

    • CM to face maximum no. of no-confidence motions – K. Karunakaran.
    • CM during the emergency – C. Achuthamenon.
      • Home Minister during Vimochana Samaram.
    • 10 Chief Ministers resigned from Office.
    • C. Achuthamenon, K. Karunakaran, E.K. Nayanar, V.S. Achuthanandan, and Pinarayi Vijayan are the five Chief Ministers who completed the term of five years.
    • During the Fifth Kerala Legislative Assembly's tenure, four chief ministers and four ministries were elected.
      1. K. Karunakaran –  March 25, 1977 ( resigned due to Rajan murder case).
      2. A.K. Antony –  April 25, 1977.
      3. P.K. Vasudevan Nair – October 29, 1978.
      4. C.H. Mohammed Koya – October 12, 1979.
    • Pinarayi Vijayan is the 23rd Chief Minister of Kerala and the 12th person to become the Chief Minister.

    Parliament

    • Longest served MP (member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha) – B.V. Abdulla Koya (5 terms).
      • Attended more than 100 Parliament sessions.
    • First Malayali  Chairman of Rajya Sabha – K.R. Narayanan (1992).
    • First Malayali Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha – M.M. Jacob (1986).
      • Second Malayali Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha – P.J. Kurien (2012).
    • First Malayali Poet nominated to the Rajya Sabha – G. Sankara Kurup (1968).
    • First Malayalam Actor nominated to the Rajya Sabha – Suresh Gopi (2016).
    • First Malayalam Actor elected to the Lok Sabha – Innocent Vareed Thekkethala (2014).
    • First Central Cabinet Minister from Kerala – Dr. John Mathai (Finance, 1947- 50).
      • Presented First Railway Budget.
    • First Central Cabinet Defence Minister from Kerala – V.K. Krishna Menon (1957-62).
      • Second Central Cabinet Minister from Kerala – V.K. Krishna Menon.
    • Second Defence Minister from Kerala – A.K. Anthony (2006-14).
      • 6th Kerala Chief Minister.
      • Longest Served Defence Minister of India.
    • First Woman Central Minister from Kerala – Lakshmi N. Menon (1962).
    • First Malayali to become Cabinet Minister for Electronics and Information Technology – Alphons Kannanthanam (Rajasthan, 2017). 
    • First Malayali to contest in Presidential Election – Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer (against R. Venkataraman, 1987, lost by 458598 votes).
      • First Person to become a member of Kerala legislative assembly through a court order – Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer.

    📝 Read More:
      1. Governors of Kerala
      2. 15th Kerala Ministry
      3. First Kerala Niyamasabha
      4. First Woman in Kerala – Administration.
    📝SideNotes:
    • *Hung Parliament –  Where no party or a coalition was able to form the legislature as it did not have a clear majority in the general elections were held.
    • Political Laboratory of India – Kerala.
    • Party of Kerala's Second Chief Minister, Pattom Thanu Pillai – Praja Socialist Party (PSP).
    • First Lawyer from the Ezhava community – K.R.  Gowri.
    • ** With the passing of the 126th constitution amendment act in Parliament in December 2019, the Anglo-Indian reservation to assembly and Lok Sabha was repealed.
    • Autobiography of R. Balakrishna Pillai – Prisoner 5990.
    • When Kottayam district was designated India's first 100% literate district, who was the Collector? Alphons Kannanthanam.
    Thanks for reading!!!