THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Left-Right political conundrum echoed in the assembly on Monday, October 4, 2021, with Opposition MLAs and Local Self-Government Minister M V Govindan locking horns arguing over who is right. During the discussion on the Kerala Employment Guarantee Workers’ Fund Bill, P T Thomas of the Congress intervened amid the minister’s speech stating that the Left should not try to take credit for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme introduced by UPA 1 government at the Centre.
The minister then shot back saying the Left had extended support to UPA 1 based on a common minimum programme and it was also instrumental in enacting the employment guarantee Act. The Left supported the Congress then to avoid a situation of right-wing BJP coming to power at the Centre. At the same time, both Congress and BJP are right-wing parties and they pursue the same policies, he said. This enraged Opposition members who claimed that the Congress is also a ‘Left’ party.
The minister than clarified that in the British system, the Opposition members sit on the benches to the left of the Lord Speaker and the ruling side on the right. The concept of ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ began from that. Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan then intervened and said the Opposition parties in the state assembly is the real ‘Left’ if one goes by the British system as stated by the minister as they sit on the left side of the Speaker’s chair in the assembly.