Vaithilingam all set to be elected unopposed as Speaker

Senior Congress leader and former chief minister V Vaithilingam is all set to be the new Speaker of the Puducherry Assembly as he was the only candidate to file papers till this afternoon, the deadline for submission of papers.
Vaithilingam, was the only candidate to present his nomination to the Secretary to the Assembly S Mohandas.
"No other candidate filed the papers till this afternoon, the deadline fixed for submission of papers," Mohandass told reporters.
The election of Speaker is slated for tomorrow.
Pro-Tem Speaker V P Sivakolundhu will make a formal announcement of Vaithilingam's election as Speaker of the newly constituted Assembly tomorrow when the House resumes it's session.

Vaithilingam will be the 19th Speaker of the Assembly.

66-year-old Vaithilingam was elected for the second successive term from Kamaraj Nagar constituency in the May 16 Assembly polls.
He earlier held the Nettapakkam segment since his first election in 1985 before shifting to Kamaraj nagar in 2011. The constituency was made a reserved segment in the 2011 polls following delimitation of territorial limits of Assembly constituency.
Vaithilingam was twice the Chief Minister. He held the post between 1991-1996 and replaced Rangasamy as chief minister of the Congress government in 2008.
He was Leader of the opposition in the last Assembly.

Mohandas said Sivakolundhu was also all set to be elected unopposed as the new Deputy Speaker of the Assembly as he was the only candidate to submit nomination papers for the post.
He said the new Speaker would announce the election of Sivakolundhu to the post of Deputy Speaker tomorrow on the floor of the House.
Both Vaithlingam and Sivakolundhu would assume office immediately tomorrow, he said.