Thrithala MLA MB Rajesh resigned from the post of Speaker of Kerala Assembly, paving the way for his appointment as a Minister. He submitted his resignation letter to Deputy Speaker Chittayam Gopakumar on September 3, Saturday. A statement from Communist Party of India (Marxist) state secretariat said that Thalassery MLA AN Shamseer, will replace Rajesh as the Speaker. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is likely to announce Rajesh’s portfolio next week.
“The experience I got as the Speaker in my 15-month term is very much valuable. I have done every work the party entrusted to me, with utmost sincerity. I hope I have shown sincerity to my responsibility as a Speaker,” the 51-year-old MLA, who had been a part of CPI(M) for the last three decades told the media, a day before his resignation.
Recently, two Ministers resigned from the Pinarayi government and it is yet unclear which portfolio will be handed to Rajesh. MV Govindan, MLA of Taliparamba had recently resigned as Excise Minister as he was appointed as party secretary. Saji Cheriyan, Chengannur MLA also resigned as Culture Minister after his controversial remarks over the Indian constitution.
MB Rajesh had served as Student Federation of India state secretary and Democratic Youth Federation of India national and state president in the initial years of his political career. Currently, Rajesh is a CPM state committee member. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009 and again in 2014 from Palakkad constituency, where he won by huge margin of more than one lakh votes. But in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he faced a shocking defeat by Congress’s VK Sreekantan by a margin of 11,637 votes. In 2021, he had a massive victory in Assembly elections from Thrithala constituency, where he defeated two-time winner VT Balram of Congress.