Congress leader Shanimol Usman was elected as the deputy speaker of the 16th Kerala legislative assembly on Tuesday.
She is the fourth woman MLA to hold the post and the first in over three decades.
Usman, the sitting MLA from Aroor in Alappuzha district and the United Democratic Front (UDF) nominee, defeated the Left Democratic Front (LDF) nominee and Pattambi MLA Muhammad Muhsin.
The election took place during the first assembly session after the Congress-led UDF returned to power and formed the government under chief minister VD Satheesan.
Usman received 99 votes and Muhsin got 34 votes in the 140-member House.
Two UDF MLAs and one LDF legislator were absent, while three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs abstained from the proceedings.
Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan did not cast his vote.
Usman's election was a foregone conclusion as the ruling UDF has a brute majority of 102 members in the 140-member House.
The LDF has 35 members and the BJP has three.
Usman (60) is a two-time MLA and a seasoned woman face of the Congress party.
Though she was in the running for a role in the UDF cabinet, the party ultimately chose her for the deputy speaker’s post.
A. Nafeesath Beevi was the last Congress woman leader to hold the post, serving in 1960.
The position was also held by CPI leaders K.O. Aisha Bai in 1957 and Bhargavi Thankappan in 1987.
