THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Assembly on Wednesday witnessed two intense encounters during the Question Hour.
Speaker A N Shamseer reprimanded CPM's P P Chitharanjan for misusing the time given to him during the Question Hour to broach on the spat between General Education Minister V Sivankutty and Opposition Leader V D Satheesan.
Alappuzha MLA P P Chitharanjan got the rap after he said, "How can I drop what needs to be said," when the Speaker reminded him to stick to the question alone.
The remark did not go unnoticed, and the Speaker said the matter can be discussed on other occassion and not during the Question Hour.
After Chitharanjan finished his question, Shamseer warned him that while asking questions, the member should have shown some respect towards the Chair.
The second one was between the Deputy Opposition leader, P K Kunhalikutty and Industries Minister P Rajeeve.
Kunhalikutty and Rajeeve locked horns, albeit in a lighter tone, over the latter's claims of LDF ushering in mega development in the State.
While Rajeeve was answering the questions, informing the House about the development works being undertaken in the State under the LDF government, Kunhalikutty stood up.
He said the Industries Minister was bragging about development as if it were solely brought forward by the LDF government.
"It seems Parasuram threw his axe to create the State only 10 years ago," he quipped.
The minister, during his speech, had said that there was a wrong perception among some quarters that Kerala was not a business-friendly state and that has changed.
Kunhalikutty, who was a former Industries minister during the UDF reign, replied, saying the perception was created due to the acts of the LDF when it was in the opposition.
He also alleged that the LDF has failed to execute a single mega project under its rule.
Rajeeve hit back, saying that the infighting within the UDF had cost development activities when it was ruling the State.
"When the Global Investors Meet was held under the UDF, then Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash had pointed out that he was not aware of many proposals that came up and hence land cannot be allotted," Rajeeve said.