V Sathyabama Becomes Tamil Nadu Assembly's First Woman Presider

By: Women Entrepreneurs Review Team | Friday, 4 September 2026

The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly witnessed a historic milestone on 3 September 2026, when V Sathyabama, MLA from Tiruppur North, became the first woman to preside over proceedings from the Speaker’s chair. Her brief stint in the chair drew appreciation from members across party lines, including the Opposition, marking a significant moment for women’s representation in legislative politics.

Key Highlights:

• V Sathyabama becomes the first woman to preside over the Tamil Nadu Assembly
• The TVK MLA conducts proceedings during the demands-for-grants session
• Members across party lines applaud the historic milestone

Sathyabama, a member of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and the Assembly’s Panel of Chairpersons, took charge during the afternoon sitting of the demands-for-grants session. She stepped into the Speaker’s chair after the Speaker and Deputy Speaker left the House for a break.

Under the Assembly’s rules, members of the Panel of Chairpersons are authorised to conduct proceedings when both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker are unavailable. Sathyabama therefore assumed the chair as part of this established parliamentary procedure. However, the occasion carried considerable symbolic significance, as no woman had previously presided over the Tamil Nadu Assembly from the Speaker’s chair.

DMK MLA Thangam Thenarasu congratulated Sathyabama during the proceedings, describing the occasion as a moment of happiness for members of the House. He referred to the long-standing expectation that a woman would one day occupy the historic chair donated to the Assembly by Lady Willingdon.

Thenarasu also praised Sathyabama for conducting the proceedings with patience and dignity, conveying congratulations on behalf of the House. Members from the Opposition also joined in acknowledging the significance of the occasion, creating a rare display of cross-party appreciation.

The six-member Panel of Chairpersons currently includes Sathyabama, along with TVK MLAs Vijay Saravanan and Madhar Badhurudeen, DMK MLA Kadher Batcha Muthuramalingam, AIADMK MLA Thalavai Sundaram and Congress MLA Tharagai Kathbert.

Sathyabama is a first-time MLA in the current Tamil Nadu Assembly, having won the Tiruppur North constituency in the 2026 Assembly election on a TVK ticket. She had previously represented Tiruppur in the Lok Sabha from 2014 to 2019 as an AIADMK MP before later joining TVK.

Her time in the Speaker’s chair was not a formal election to the Speakership. The elected Speaker remains J.C.D. Prabhakar. Nevertheless, Sathyabama’s appearance in the chair represents a landmark in the Assembly’s history and highlights the growing visibility of women in positions of legislative authority.

The moment also stood out for the cross-party recognition it received, with representatives from TVK, DMK, AIADMK and Congress acknowledging its importance. What began as a procedural responsibility thus became a historic occasion for Tamil Nadu’s legislature, symbolising a long-awaited step towards greater representation of women in the state’s political institutions.