First time in 44 years a Speaker resigns

With the resignation of Assembly Speaker D. Jayakumar, it was after a gap of 44 years that a Speaker had chosen to quit the post.

The last time a Speaker resigned was August 1968 when S.B. Athithanar stepped down to become Minister.

After the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam captured power in 1967, Athithanar was elected Speaker. In February 1969, he became cooperation minister.

In the 1950s, two Assembly Speakers had left the post. J. Sivashanmugam Pillai, in his second term as the presiding officer of the Assembly, resigned the post in August 1955.

He held the post since May 1946. Subsequent to the 1951-1952 Assembly elections, Pillai was again elected Speaker in May 1952. He was the only person to hold the post for nine long years at a stretch.

Pillai was succeeded by N. Gopala Menon in September 1955.

Menon’s election was marked by a contest in which he got 134 votes as against 64 votes secured by S. Swayamprakasam. A year later, Menon resigned from the post as his constituency was merged with the State of Kerala.

K.A. Mathialagan was the only Speaker to have been removed through a motion adopted in December 1972 amid uproarious scenes. Mathialagan became the Speaker in March 1971 on DMK retaining power in the Assembly elections held that year.