Kerala Assembly adjourned for the day after heated exchange between CM, LoP

The Kerala Assembly was adjourned for the day on Monday after a protest on the floor of the House following an intense verbal spat between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan who traded charges.

Angry opposition members climbed the podium of Speaker A N Shamseer who tried to conduct the business amid the ruckus, and even held a black banner preventing the House from seeing his face.

The heated war of words between the CM and the LoP escalated after Vijayan strongly criticised the latter for attacking the chair.

The controversy began when Satheesan announced the boycott of question hour, protesting the conversion of 49 starred questions into non-starred ones.

 

Watch and Ward personnel had to forcibly push MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan (Congress) away when he tried to enter the Speaker's dias amidst the melee.

A visibly angry CM rose and said blocking the Speaker's sight with banners cannot be allowed in the House at any cost.

The slogans in the banner, linking him to the RSS, also seemed to have irked the CM.

Taking a dig at Satheesan for his participation in a programme organised by the Bharateeya Vichara Kendram years ago, he said everybody knew who stood with folded hands in front of the photo of RSS idealogue Golwalkar.

When the LoP said he used to pray every day that he should never be a corrupt person like Pinarayi Vijayan, the CM hit back, saying that the people of the state clearly know who is corrupt and who is not.

"The opposition leader used derogatory words against the Speaker in an utmost substandard manner. He acted like this in the past also," Vijayan said.

The CM said he had to intervene as the LoP has crossed all the limits.

"Satheesan said he is praying for not being corrupt. The society and the people clearly know who is Pinarayi Vijayan and who is V D Satheesan," he said.

The Left veteran further said that the Congress-led opposition attempted to portray the ruling LDF and the government in a poor light by tarnishing his image.

Accusing the opposition of making such attempts for a long time, Vijayan asked them to introspect whether they had succeeded in their bid even after all these years.

The second day of the session commenced on a stormy note with the opposition Congress-led UDF members expressing displeasure to Speaker Shamseer over the altering of 49 starred questions into non-starred ones.

After boycotting the question hour, the opposition members returned to the House just before the beginning of the zero hour.

Noisy scenes were witnessed once again after the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Satheesan tried to respond to the remarks made by the CM and Parliamentary Affairs Minister M B Rajesh against him in his absence.

The LoP questioned the Speaker's decision to expunge his remarks from the House records and the Sabha TV while retaining those made by the CM and the Minister against him.

As the protest and sloganeering escalated, and the Congress-led UDF members were reluctant to return to their seats despite repeated requests, the Speaker adjourned the House for the day.

The government's decision to discuss the opposition's adjournment notice regarding the controversial remarks allegedly made by the Chief Minister about Malappuram was withdrawn.

Subsequently, irate opposition members staged a protest in the House, prompting the Speaker to suspend the other listed businesses and adjourn the House for the day.

Later, the opposition walked out of the House holding the banner and raising slogans against the government.

Satheesan told media that 'unfortunate' events happened in the House. A large number of starred questions submitted by the opposition related to the interests of the country and the state were altered as unstarred ones.

He alleged that an official from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) came to the Legislative Secretariat to change the status of questions.

Reacting to the alleged acts, including the expunging of remarks from the Assembly records and cutting out his speech by Sabha TV, the Leader of the Opposition also claimed that the CM was acting like a 'fascist' and trying to emulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Addressing reporters in the newsroom, Law Minister P Rajeeve rejected the opposition charges and said the UDF members deliberately created ruckus in the house to avoid the scheduled discussion on Malappuram in the House.

"They expected that there would be a normal adjournment motion and they could continue with their lies outside for their political gains," he said.

But the government took a stand to discuss the issue on the floor of the House to stop creating anymore misunderstandings and division in society over the issue, the minister added.