Amidst pandemonium, the Kerala Assembly on Monday suspended two opposition MLAs, James Mathew and TV Rajesh, for two days. The action followed their protests against the ruling of the speaker on the noisy scenes and the scuffle between the opposition MLAs and the House staff on Friday.
Protesting against their suspension, all the opposition members staged a sit-in inside the House shouting slogans against the speaker and the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF).
The speaker G Karthikeyan on Monday ruled that further action against the two MLAs was dropped as both of them sought pardon regarding the Friday's events. The speaker warned that such incidents should not be repeated.
While the speaker was giving his ruling, James Mathew rose from his seat and strongly protested. He said that both he and Rajesh had not sought pardon from the speaker but had only expressed grief, and that the speaker was ruling against the consensus evolved in the discussion between the chief minister, opposition leader and leaders of various political parties.
Immediately, chief minister Oommen Chandy questioned the protest of James Mathew and told him that it was unparliamentary to protest while the speaker is proclaiming his ruling. The speaker repeatedly warned the member, but the latter shouted against him. Following this, the chief minister moved a resolution for suspending them for two days and the house approved it.
Both the ruling UDF and opposition members had a wordy duel inside the House in the afternoon session following the suspension, and members even used abusive words against each other.
These developments had a serious turn on Monday as the issue of alleged scuffle between the watch and ward staff and the opposition members was amicably settled. After marathon discussions on Monday morning, the speaker decided to avoid harsh action against the MLAs. But later, the protest against speaker's ruling led to the suspension of the members.
The whole episode originated on Friday last when the opposition members moved towards the well of the House in protest against the report of the DGP on the police firing against student activists at Kozhikode.
When James Mathew and Rajesh tried to climb on the speaker's chamber, the watch and ward team forcefully stopped them. There had been a scuffle between the staff and the opposition MLAs. VS Rajanikumari, a woman constable in the watch and ward team, fell down in the scuffle. She lodged a complaint with the speaker alleging that Rajesh had pushed her, leading to her fall. She was admitted in a hospital.
While the opposition alleged that the watch and ward staff manhandled some of them and KK Lathika, CPI(M) MLA, alleged the speaker's staff pushed her. Both James Mathew and Rajesh lodged complaints with the speaker. Later, there were several rounds of arguments between the ruling and opposition MLAs.
A team of MLAs from both the fronts had verified the video clippings of the incidents, but the involvement of the MLAs in the scuffle was not thoroughly proved. So the speaker decided to avoid serious action against them amidst a strong protest from the treasury benches.
Both Rajesh and James said they had not requested pardon, but only expressed their grief at the incidents. They alleged that the speaker had violated the spirit of the discussion between him and the leaders of the House, and only tried to prove their involvement in manhandling the lady staff, saying that they had requested pardon.
