In Puducherry, Mr V. Sabapathy of the ruling NR Congress was formally declared elected unopposed Speaker of the Assembly. His election was announced by the Pro-term Speaker Mr Tygarajan, when the house met Wednesday morning. The 66 year old six time MLA was formally led to the Speaker’s chair by the Chief Minister Mr. N.Rangaswamy. The opposition Congress, DMK and the AIADMK boycotted the proceedings. The AIADMK had petitioned the Lt Governor Mr Iqbal Singh to cancel the election of speaker stating that NR congress party’s majority in the house is questionable. The party wanted the NR congress to prove its majority in the house and then conduct the election to the speaker’s post.