THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Beer bottles, cannabis packet, grenade shells, matchsticks, broken piece of fibre lathi... the list goes on. The Kerala Legislative Assembly has over the years witnessed rare instances of banned articles making their way into the ‘temple of democracy’.
On Monday, CPM legislator V Joy brought in a broken piece of fibre lathi to the house to show the gravity of police action against students while moving the notice for an adjournment motion. Soon, as directed by the chair, he handed it over to the watch and ward. Minister Shibu Baby John pointed out that such articles should not be brought to the house.
A day later, Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan issued a ruling that bringing such objects into the house is not in order. In a detailed ruling, the speaker observed that the assembly had in the past witnessed instances where two bottles of beer and a packet of cannabis were brought in.
He also cited a 2005 ruling against bringing explosive devices like grenades to the house. And in a seemingly self-critical manner, the veteran leader quipped that he too, while being part of the opposition, had brought such substances to the house, triggering laughter among both treasury and opposition benches. Thiruvanchoor expressed regret over such acts in the past, while exhorting members to stay away from such moves.
However, many were unaware that the remarks hid more than what met the eye. Who brought the beer bottles to the house? Thiruvanchoor himself!
“It was sometime in 1999. T Sivadasa Menon was the finance minister. The alcoholic content in beer was supposed to be less than 9%. The debate was about a brand called Kalapani. The minister said it had less than the allowed limit. I contended that it was more than double. I displayed the bottles which had 15% alcohol,” Thiruvanchoor told TNIE.
While in opposition, he had also once brought in a grenade to the house.
“I was standing near the University College. Remnants of a grenade fell there and I brought it to the house. A ruling was issued then,” he recalled.
In fact, not just Thiruvanchoor, others too have brought in grenades to the house. The late Kerala Congress leader T M Jacob had once displayed the shell of a grenade in the assembly in 2005. And who brought it to the house to be handed it over to him? Shibu Baby John!
“It was a time we were not part of the UDF, for a short time. T M Jacob displayed the grenade; I was the one who brought it to the house,” Shibu said.
While not many know who exactly had brought in cannabis, a senior assembly official recalled that it was an MLA from Idukki, sometime in 1987. “Keeping cannabis is a crime. Hence, it was seized and handed over to the excise. Similarly, once Lonappan Nambadan tried to light a matchstick in the house. He wanted to oppose a bill published in English. The then Speaker Vakkom Purushothaman warned him. But Nambadan tried to burn the bill. The speaker immediately asked the watch and ward to put out the flame and take him away,” the official said.
Going by the norms and code of conduct in the house, members are not even allowed to bring in unnecessary walking sticks or caps to the house. However, these are not followed in a rigid manner.