| Post: | Speaker |
| Body: | the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly |
| Department: | Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly |
| Termlength: | During the life of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly (five years maximum) |
| Member Of: | Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly |
| Appointer: | Members of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly |
| Deputy: | K. Pitchandi |
| Inaugural: | Pulavar K. Govindan |
| Incumbent: | Hon'ble M. Appavu |
| Incumbentsince: | 12 May 2021 |
| Insignia: | File:TamilNadu Logo.svg |
| Insigniasize: | 280 |
| Insigniacaption: | Emblem of Tamil Nadu |
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.
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 |
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 |
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] |
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:
| |||||||
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:
| |||||||