Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Legislative Assembly Speaker election on Friday will see the BJP fielding a candidate for the first time in the state’s political history, setting up a rare three-cornered contest with all major fronts in the fray.

The BJP, which opened a new chapter in Kerala politics by winning three Assembly seats in the April 9 elections, has nominated newly elected Chathannoor MLA B B Gopakumar as its candidate. State BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar described the move as a “historic moment” for the party in Kerala.

“For the first time in Kerala's political history, the BJP will have a candidate in the election for this post. Gopakumar is the BJP candidate, and his name will be proposed by Muraleedharan and me,” he told reporters.

The BJP’s other MLAs in the new Assembly are V Muraleedharan and Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

UDF confident as it fields Radhakrishnan

The ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) has nominated senior Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan. The alliance holds a comfortable majority with 102 members in the 140-member Assembly and has expressed confidence in his election.

While the UDF had announced Radhakrishnan’s candidature a few days earlier, the opposition fronts officially confirmed their nominees on Thursday after assembling in Thiruvananthapuram for the swearing-in ceremony of newly elected MLAs.

LDF fields Moideen for Speaker post

The opposition CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), which has 35 members in the House, has fielded senior CPI(M) leader and former minister A C Moideen for the post.