The decades-long experience as the legislator has finally paid back with the highest recognition for Appavu, the DMK's MLA in Tamil Nadu. The veteran legislator has on Tuesday elected unopposed as the new Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly in the first session of the 16th and current assembly. Tuesday's session had hosted the swearing-in ceremony for the newly-elected MLAs of the current assembly. While the legislators were sworn in by the interim speaker, Appavu was on the card to win the Speaker's chair full time. 

Appavu has currently won from the Radhapuram constituency and while the Speaker's Office will be decorated by the legislator with vast experience in the assembly, Appavu was considered to be Chief Minister MK Stalin's choice for the top post in the assembly. Recently, DMK's MLA Pitchandi had sworn in as the interim speaker to administer the oath for the newly-elected MLAs in the assembly, and later, it was officially announced that Appavu will contest for the Speaker's election. 

Interim Speaker Pitchandi had filed his nomination for the post of Deputy Speaker. It was announced that the election for the Speaker and Deputy Speaker will be held on May 12. However, as no one has filed a nomination apart from Appavu and Pitchandi, it was officially announced that Appavu and Pitchandi have been elected to the posts of Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively unopposed. According to reports, both the leaders will assume their offices on May 12 and they will be serving through the entirety of the current assembly. As Appavu has replaced ADMK's Dhanapal as the new Speaker, let's look back at his political journey,

69-year-old Appavu had begun his political career by joining the Congress party. He later joined GK Moopanar's Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) and contested in the 1996 Tamil Nadu assembly polls for the first time from the Radhapuram constituency in TMC's ticket. He won his debut election and earned an immense reputation from the voters of his constituency in his first term and this reputation has helped him win the constituency again in the 2001 polls as an independent candidate. 

Five years later, he had officially joined the DMK and he again contested from Radhapuram in the 2006 polls. He had won the constituency for the third constituency time. As the DMK MLA, he was more affectionate towards late DMK President Karunanidhi and the party has allotted the Radhapuram seat to the Congress party in the alliance in the 2011 polls. However, without opposing the party for not providing him with a ticket, he had tirelessly worked for the Congress party's candidate. But, the voters in Radhapuram had elected the DMDK, then in the ADMK alliance, candidate in the 2011 polls. 

After five years, Appavu had again contested in the Radhapuram constituency in the 2016 polls and took on ADMK's Inbadurai. The heavily fought race had come to a controversial end after Inbadurai was declared as a winner in a margin of 49 votes. Appavu was alleged that there was malpractice in counting the postal ballots and claimed that he was the winner. Appavu had launched a legal strike to challenge Inbadurai's victory in Radhapuram. The case is still going on in the apex court even he won the 2021 polls.

 In the 2021 polls, Appavu had against faced Inbadurai and this time, the former has won the race against the latter in a margin of 4,492 votes. Appavu had once again proved that he is the legislative face for Radhapuram. With the recent victory, Appavu has elected for the assembly four times. He is known for conducting protests against agricultural issues and against the corporates for pumping in water from the Thamirabharani river for their internal use. 

His fourth entry to the assembly is with the highest recognition as he has been elected as the House Speaker. The DMK members say that Appavu deserved the recognition and while Appavu has become the speaker for the first time, Pitchandi, the DMK MLA from Kelpenathur constituency, will become the Deputy Speaker of the assembly for the first time.