The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala survived its first acid test yesterday when party veteran G Karthikeyan was elected speaker of the 13th assembly. The 62-year-old six-time Congress legislator defeated opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) nominee and former electricity minister A K Balan by five votes. Karthikeyan got 73 votes. Chandy, leader of the opposition V S Achuthanandan and other party leaders complimented the new speaker. Karthikeyan was left out of the 20-member Oommen Chandy cabinet.