The Speaker is the presiding officer of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, the main law-making body for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The speaker is elected by the members of the assembly, from amongst them.

President of the Madras Legislative Council

Madras Legislative Council, the first representative legislature for the Madras Presidency was established in December 1920. The presiding officer of the council was known as the president. P. Rajagopalachari was nominated as the first president and took office on 17 December 1920.

The Speaker's Chair bears an inscription reading “Presented by Lord Willingdon of Ratton, Governor of Madras”, commemorating the artistic teakwood chair presented by Lord Willingdon and Lady Willingdon as a personal gift on March 6, 1922, to the President of the Madras Legislative Council. Its design closely resembles the Speaker's Chair in the British House of Commons, and it has been used continuously across generations of democratic assemblies.

No. Name Image Assumed office Left office 1P. Rajagopalachari December 1920 February 1925 2L. D. Swamikannu Pillai February 1925 September 1925 3M. Ratnaswami September 1925 1926 4C. V. S. Narasimha Raju 1926 1930 5B. Ramachandra Reddi 1930 1937

Chairman of Madras Legislative Council The Government of India Act 1935 enabled the introduction of provincial autonomy in 1937, and the Madras Legislative 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 after Indian Independence till the abolition of the council in 1986.

No. Name Image Took office Left officePolitical party 1U. Rama Rao 1937 1945INC rowspan="4" 2R. B. Ramakrishna Raju 1946 1952 3P. V. Cherian 1952 20 April 1964 4M. A. Manickavelu Naicker 1964 1970 5C. P. Chitrarasu 1970 1976 DMK 6M. P. Sivagnanam 1976 1986 TAK

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Madras Presidency The Madras Legislative Assembly was established as a part of the bicameral legislature in 1937. The presiding officer of the assembly was known as the speaker.

No. Name Image Took office Left officePolitical Party Deputy Speaker 1Bulusu Sambamurti 1937 1942 INC Rukmini Lakshmipathi –Vacant 1942 1946 2J. Shivashanmugam Pillai 1946 1952 INC Chodagam Ammanna Raja

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Madras State Madras State, the precursor to the present day state of Tamil Nadu, was created after India became a republic on 26 January 1950. 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.

No. Name Image Took office Left office Time in officePolitical party Deputy Speaker 1J. Shivashanmugam Pillai 6 May 1952 16 August 1955 INC rowspan="4" B. Baktavatsalu Naidu 2N. Gopala Menon 27 September 1955 1 November 1956 3U. Krishna Rao 30 April 1957 3 August 1961 4S. Chellapandian 31 March 1962 14 March 1967 K. Parthasarathi 5S. P. Adithanar 17 March 1967 12 August 1968 DMK Pulavar K. Govindan Source:

Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Madras State was renamed as Tamil Nadu in January 1969.

No. Name Image Took office Left office Time in officePolitical party Deputy Speaker 1 Pulavar K. Govindan 22 February 1969 14 March 1971 DMK rowspan="4" G. R. Edmund 2K. A. Mathiazagan 24 March 1971 2 December 1972 P. Seenivasan –P. Seenivasan (acting) 2 December 1972 3 August 1973 (1) Pulavar K. Govindan 3 August 1973 3 July 1977 N. Ganapathy 4Munu Adhi 6 July 1977 18 June 1980 AIADMK rowspan="3" S. Thirunavukkarasu 5K. Rajaram 21 June 1980 24 February 1985 P. H. Pandian 6P. H. Pandian 27 February 1985 5 February 1989 V. P. Balasubramanian 7M. Tamilkudimagan 8 February 1989 30 June 1991 DMK V. P. Duraisamy8Sedapatti R. Muthiah 3 July 199121 May 1996AIADMK rowspan="2" K. Ponnuswamy (1991-1993)S. Gandhirajan (1993-1996) 9P. T. R. Palanivel Rajan 23 May 1996 21 May 2001 DMK Parithi Ilamvazhuthi 10K. Kalimuthu 24 May 2001 1 February 2006 AIADMK rowspan="2" A. Arunachalam –A. Arunachalam (acting) 1 February 2006 12 May 2006 11R. Avudaiappan 19 May 2006 15 May 2011 DMK V. P. Duraisamy 12D. Jayakumar 27 May 2011 29 September 2012 AIADMK rowspan="2" P. Dhanapal 13P. Dhanapal 10 October 2012 3 May 2021 V. Jayaraman 14M. Appavu 12 May 2021 10 May 2026 DMK K. Pitchandi 15J. C. D. Prabhakar 12 May 2026 Incumbent TVK M. Ravisankar Pro-tem speaker of Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly A Pro-tem Speaker is the most senior member of the house (mostly a member of the ruling party ally) appointed to preside over the first sittings under Article 180(1) and Article 188 of the Constitution of India to administer oaths to newly elected MLAs of a newly elected legislative house until a permanent speaker is chosen shortly. "Pro-tem" comes from the Latin phrase pro tempore, which means "for the time being".

No. Name Image TermPolitical party 1 A. S. Ponnammal 1989, 1991 INC 2 A. S. Ponnammal 1996 INC 3 M. Abdul Lathief 2001 INL 4 D. Sudarsanam 2006 INC 5 C. K. Thamizharasan 2011 RPI 6 S. Semmalai 2016 AIADMK 7 K. Pitchandi 2021 DMK 8 M. V. Karuppaiah 2026 TVK

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