THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: THE UDF turned its ire against Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan on Tuesday showering invectives and heckling him on his decision to not take up the notice given for an adjournment motion on the murders of the tribal youth Madhu and Youth League activist Zafeer in the Mannarkad constituency last week.
The Speaker was highly provoked and desperate, as the young MLAs in the Opposition were determined to disrupt the proceedings right from the start of the question hour for the second day in a row.They raised protest banners and anti-government placards blocking his frontal view. The Speaker adjourned the proceedings after rushing through emergency business in a few minutes. The irate MLAs sloganeered on his ‘partisanship’ and ‘butchering of democracy’.
The Chair acted tough by disallowing the notice for an adjournment motion given by Mannarkad MLA M Shamsudeen on the two murders in his constituency. UDF legislators were doing a repeat of their acts of Monday and moved to the dais of the Speaker. They clamoured for a CBI probe into the Shuhaib murder and a discussion on the political killings. The Speaker cancelled the question hour temporarily within 10 minutes after the day’s session commenced.
The Opposition did not raise questions, though many were listed. Queries of two ruling front members were given replies by Power Minister M M Mani.The Speaker held talks with the Opposition and ruling front leaders in his chamber, but when the House assembled after half an hour, the scene was no different.
Ruling front members rose from their seats to counter the UDF members who had again thronged the dais of the Speaker. However, unlike on the opening day when a notice under Rule 50 of the House for moving an adjournment motion was allowed, the Speaker decided to skip it.
The Opposition resorted to shaming the Speaker, calling him a stooge, butcher, one who had thrown democratic norms and House precedents to the winds.Worse, they referred to him as an ordinary party local committee secretary who could stand with only shivering legs before the chief minister. Sreeramakrishnan was also reminded of his unsavoury act of damaging the Speaker’s chair, during the Opposition protests against the budget presentation by then Finance Minister K M Mani in 2015. The Speaker left in a huff, amid booing and heckling of the UDF young brigade.