THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The first session of the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly began Monday morning under strict Covid-10 protocols. Soon after the proceedings began at 9 am, the swearing in of the new MLAs of the 140-member House commenced.

The legislators were being called as per the alphabetical order to take oath before protem speaker P T A Rahim, the Kunnamangalam MLA, who was recently elected to the position.

The first to take office was Abdul Hameed from Vallikunnu constituency. 75 members of the last assembly have been re-elected. Oommen Chandy is the senior for the twelfth consecutive time.

There are 53 new faces in the assembly. U Pratibha, K Babu and M Vincent, who are under Covid observation, have not reached the assembly. Their swearing-in will take place later.

There is a ban for visitors in galleries due to Covid. If relatives come, they can see the swearing in through the video wall from Sankaranarayanan Thampi lounge.

P C Vishnunath has been decided as UDF’s speaker candidate. The UDF parliamentary party meet that met here this morning chose Vishnunath as the speaker candidate. The speaker's election will be held on Tuesday. M B Rajesh is the candidate of the ruling front. The nominations can be submitted till noon today. Vishnunath is Kundara MLA.

The assembly will not convene on May 26 and 27. The customary policy address of Governor Arif Mohammad Khan will be on May 28th. The last policy address of the previous government was on January 21. It is to be known whether the announcements will be repeated as the government continues or announce new ones.

Revenue Minister K N Balagopal will present the revised budget on June 4. The session is scheduled for 14 days until June 14 but things will work assessing the Covid situation.