Playing again & again: Much ado about nothing

It was 10.30am on Wednesday, the penultimate day of the fifth session of the 15th Kerala assembly. Only 13 legislators could be seen on the Opposition benches, while the ruling front had more.
Playing again & again: Much ado about nothing

KOCHI: It was 10.30am on Wednesday, the penultimate day of the fifth session of the 15th Kerala assembly. Only 13 legislators could be seen on the Opposition benches, while the ruling front had more. Some serious discussions on people’s issues and pressing matters were expected to come up, but what came about eventually was mere annoying din over petty party politics. In a rare sight, even the treasury benches raised slogans against the Opposition this time.

Sanctity was lost yet again. If M M Mani was vocal in his attack on a woman MLA, Murali Perunelli showed no remorse in mocking Jai Bhim. Kerala politicians have been critical of the ‘word ban’ in Parliament, but they were hitting below the belt in their own House. M Vincent withdrew a remark on his own, after realising it was inappropriate.

Barring a few, like Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan and a couple of ministers, hardly anybody paid scant regard to serious discussions. A lack of preparedness was palpable. A few senior members were still all ears for what transpired. Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, who appeared seemingly preoccupied, suddenly rose to correct minister Roshy Augustine when the latter made a mention on the water level in Mullaperiyar.

“It being a statement made in the house, we need to be cautious,” said Thiruvanchoor as he felt it could be used against the state in the ongoing legal battle with Tamil Nadu. The minister had no qualms in promptly rephrasing the remark.

The Private Members’ Bill too became a saga. If the previous assembly had 61 bills tabled, it has already touched 43 this time. Sadly, there has not been any discussion on them this session. Almost nil in the past two sessions too!

With the session being cut short, afternoon sessions have become regular now. With a series of legislation getting stacked, there has been a huge dip in time dedicated to actual business, thus forcing the speaker and the House to run through the proceedings and wind up without delay.

Assembly should remain as the last resort of the common man, where burning issues are debated threadbare. It’s high time that legislators and those presiding over take a cue from political warhorses of yore.

On the sidelines
Outside the House, it’s the journalists who literally do the balancing act. If press conferences by political leaders are common, giving bytes for channels is the most favoured. At times, even journos of media houses affiliated to political parties find it taxing. A few senior politicians like E P Jayarajan offer occasional relief from the political squabbles. He was on a roll the other day while talking to media about the IndiGo travel ban.

Mirroring Devavrata’s unyielding oath in Mahabharata that earned him the name Bhishma, EP too made a dramatic declaration that he would never board an IndiGo flight again. He was not kidding. He may have forgotten that only IndiGo flies directly to Kannur from the state capital! If Devavrata’s oath had the celestial beings quaking in fear, EP’s announcement kick-started a series of trolls. The journo standing right behind EP during his outburst against IndiGo was incidentally from a party-backed media outlet. Poor chap had a hard time suppressing his laughter, finding himself suddenly ‘live’ on screen.

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