THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Transport Minister A K Saseendran stayed away from the assembly on Thursday when the House witnessed a heated debate on the flash strike by the KSRTC staff.
M Vincent of the Congress had moved a notice for an adjournment motion to discuss the failure of the government machinery to end the strike in time. During the heated exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was in the retiring room of the assembly complex. He came to the assembly hall at the fag end of the discussion but remained silent. Saseendran did not attend the house, reportedly to attend to a family matter.
Vincent, in his notice, blamed the government’s inefficiency for prolonging the strike which would have ended in a phone call, he said.
The chief minister, who was supposed to answer the notice, assigned the task with Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran. The opposition said the government was continuing with the callousness with which it handled the strike. Kadakampally retorted: “Then why the notice was served by Vincent, a backbencher in the house. Those in the front row should have presented the notice,” Soon, the Opposition members trooped to the well of the house in protest and asked the Speaker to demand an answer from the chief minister or Saseendran. The Speaker said the answer can be given by any minister since the Cabinet had a joint responsibility.
In his address, Kadakampally termed the strike ‘raffish.’ Strict action will be taken against the guilty on the basis of the district collector’s report, he said.