Kerala Congress(M), which severed its over 30-year-old ties with the Congress led UDF opposition recently, has been recognised as separate bloc in the Assembly by the Speaker.
"Based on a letter from the party, KC-M will be recognised as separate bloc from the session beginning from September 26," Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan told reporters here while giving details of the 29-day long session.
KC-M has six MLAs in the 140-member Assembly.
The decision of Kerala Congress(M) to sit as a separate bloc is a setback for the UDF as its strength in the Assembly will now come down to 41.
KC(M), led by former Kerala Finance Minister K M Mani, had announced its decision to severe its ties with UDF after a meeting on August seven, following differences with Congress over the bar bribery scam.
The party, which has one MP, had said its relationship with the UPA would be issue-based.
KC(M), which has a history of switching fronts and suffering many splits since its inception in 1964, has a strong base in the central Travancore belt, especially among Christians.
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Sreeramakrishnan said GST constitutional amendment bill
was expected to come before the House during the session.
"Though it was not mandatory for the state to pass the GST constitutional bill, as it has been approved by the President, I expect it will come in the current session for discussion", he said.
Kerala State Infrastructure Investment Fund (Amendment) bill to mobilise funds for the development projects outside the budget proposals would be introduced on first day of the session.
Another important legislation to be taken up was the recruitments other than priests in temples under Kerala Devaswom Board, he said.
Sreeramakrishnan said the Lok Sabha Speaker has agreed to take steps to telecast on Lok Sabha Television, the debate on national important issues taking place in Kerala Assembly.
An assurance in this regard was given by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan during a recent meeting, he said.
As part of new initiatives time has been alloted for discussion on Assembly Committee reports on various issue.
"This is in view of the fact that several Assembly committee reports have not seen light of the day so far", he said.
