List of speakers of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly

The Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly is the presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu, the main law-making body for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He is elected by the members of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly (until 1968, the Madras Legislative Assembly). The speaker is always a member of the Legislative Assembly.

Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
Emblem of Tamil Nadu
Incumbent Hon'ble M. Appavu since 12 May 2021
Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
Member of	Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
Appointer	Members of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly
Term length	During the life of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly (five years maximum)
Inaugural holder	Pulavar K. Govindan
Deputy	K. Pitchandi

List of presidents of the Madras Legislative Council

Madras Legislative Council, the first representative legislature for the Madras Presidency (political predecessor for Tamil Nadu) was inaugurated in December 1920 as per the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms. The presiding officer of the council was known as the President. The first President, Sir P. Rajagopalachari was not elected but nominated and took office on 17 December 1920.

#	Name	Took office	Left office	Political party	Term
1	P. Rajagopalachari	1920	February 1925		1
2	L. D. Swamikannu Pillai	February 1925	September 1925		1
3	M. Ratnaswami	September 1925	1926		1
4	C. V. S. Narasimha Raju	1926	1930		1
5	B. Ramachandra Reddi	1930	1937		1

List of chairmen of Madras Legislative Council

With the introduction of provincial autonomy in 1937, the Council became the upper chamber of a bicameral legislature. The presiding officer of the council was called as the "Chairman of the Council". This agreement continued in the Republic of India as well till the council's abolition in 1986.

#	Name	Took office	Left office	Political party
1	U. Rama Rao	1937	1945	Indian National Congress
2	R. B. Ramakrishna Raju	1946	1952	Indian National Congress
3	P. V. Cherian	1952	20 April 1964	Indian National Congress
4	M. A. Manickavelu Naicker	1964	1970	Indian National Congress
5	C. P. Chitrarasu	1970	1976	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
6	M. P. Sivagnanam	1976	1986	Tamil Arasu Kazhagam

List of speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Madras Presidency

The Government of India Act of 1935 abolished dyarchy and ensured provincial autonomy. It created a bicameral legislature in the Madras Presidency. The legislature consisted of the governor and two legislative bodies – a legislative assembly and a legislative council. The presiding officer of the assembly was called the "Speaker".

#	Name	Took office	Left office	Political party	Term	Deputy Speaker
1	Bulusu Sambamurti	1937	1942		1	Rukmini Lakshmipathi[1]
	No Assembly[2]	1942	1946		1
2	J. Shivashanmugam Pillai	1946	1952		1	Ammanna Raja[3]

List of speakers

Madras State

Madras State, precursor to the present day state of Tamil Nadu, was created after Indian independence on 26 January 1950.^[4] It comprised present-day Tamil Nadu and parts of present-day Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. The first legislature of the Madras State to be elected on the basis of universal suffrage was constituted on 1 March 1952, after the general elections held in January 1952.^[5]

#	Name	Took office	Left office	Political party	Term	Deputy Speaker
1	J. Shivashanmugam Pillai	6 May 1952	16 August 1955	Indian National Congress[6]	1	B. Baktavatsalu Naidu
2	N. Gopala Menon	27 September 1955	1 November 1956	Indian National Congress[7]	1	B. Baktavatsalu Naidu
3	U. Krishna Rao	30 April 1957	3 August 1961	Indian National Congress[8]	1	B. Baktavatsalu Naidu
4	S. Chellapandian	31 March 1962	14 March 1967	Indian National Congress[9]	1	K. Parthasarathi
5	Si. Pa. Adithanar	17 March 1967	12 August 1968	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam[10]	1	Pulavar K. Govindan
Sources: "Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly: Details of terms of successive Legislative Assemblies constituted under the Constitution of India". Government of India. Archived from the original on 9 April 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2009. "Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly: Details of terms of successive Legislative Assemblies constituted under the Constitution of India". Government of Tamil Nadu. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014.

Tamil Nadu

Madras was renamed Tamil Nadu in January 1969.

No.	Name	Took office	Left office	Political party	Term	Deputy Speaker
1	Pulavar K. Govindan	22 February 1969	14 March 1971	DMK	2	G. R. Edmund
		3 August 1973	3 July 1977			N. Ganapathy
2	K. A. Mathiazagan	24 March 1971	2 December 1972		1	P. Seenivasan
Acting	P. Seenivasan (Acting Speaker)	2 December 1972	3 August 1973		1
4	Munu Adhi	6 July 1977	18 June 1980	AIADMK	1	S. Thirunavukkarasu
5	K. Rajaram	21 June 1980	24 February 1985	AIADMK	1	P. H. Pandian
6	P. H. Pandian	27 February 1985	5 February 1989	AIADMK	1	V. P. Balasubramanian
7	M. Tamilkudimagan	8 February 1989	30 June 1991	DMK	1	V. P. Duraisamy
8	Sedapatti R. Muthiah	3 July 1991	21 May 1996	AIADMK	1	K. Ponnuswamy (1991-1993), S. Gandhirajan (1993-1996)
9	P. T. R. Palanivel Rajan	23 May 1996	21 May 2001	DMK	1	Parithi Ilamvazhuthi
10	K. Kalimuthu	24 May 2001	1 February 2006	AIADMK	1	A. Arunachalam
Acting	A. Arunachalam (Acting Speaker)	1 February 2006	12 May 2006	AIADMK	1
11	R. Avudaiappan	19 May 2006	15 May 2011	DMK	1	V. P. Duraisamy
12	D. Jayakumar	27 May 2011	29 September 2012	AIADMK	1	P. Dhanapal
13	P. Dhanapal	10 October 2012	3 May 2021	AIADMK	2	Pollachi V. Jayaraman
14	M. Appavu	12 May 2021	Incumbent	DMK	1	K. Pitchandi
Sources: "Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly: Details of terms of successive Legislative Assemblies constituted under the Constitution of India". Government of India. Archived from the original on 9 April 2009. Retrieved 2 April 2009. "Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly: Details of terms of successive Legislative Assemblies constituted under the Constitution of India". Government of Tamil Nadu. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014.

References

1. "Historic moments, historic personalities". 13 March 2010 – via www.thehindu.com.
2. Elections were not held in 1942 and no new Assembly was constituted during 1942-46
3. "Jayakumar, Dhanapal set to become Speaker, Deputy Speaker". 26 May 2011 – via www.thehindu.com.
4. "Indian states since 1947". www.worldstatesmen.org.
5. Government of Tamil Nadu — The State Legislature — Origin and Evolution Archived 2010-04-13 at the Wayback Machine
6. Rāmacandra Kshīrasāgara (1994). Dalit movement in India and its leaders, 1857-1956. M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. p. 294. ISBN 978-81-85880-43-3.
7. "dated September 28, 1955: Madras Assembly Speaker". The Hindu. 28 September 2005. Archived from the original on 12 September 2011.
8. "dated May 1, 1957 : New Speaker of Madras". The Hindu. 1 May 2007. Archived from the original on 2 May 2007.
9. "Statistical report on General Election 1962 to the Legislative Assembly of Madras" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2009.
10. "Statistical report on General Election 1967 to the Legislative Assembly of Madras" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2009.