THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala legislative assembly on Thursday witnessed unruly scenes as the Opposition UDF members staged a protest near the Speaker’s dais over the infamous gold smuggling case. They moved into the well of the assembly after Speaker B Rajesh denied the notice for an adjournment motion.
The UDF MLAs demanded that the house should suspend its activities to discuss the case in the wake of fresh revelations by Swapna Suresh, an accused, against M Sivasankar, who was the principal secretary of the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The Speaker denied the notice on the ground that the case was in the purview of the court. The opposition members who were not satisfied with the ruling entered the well to protest. The Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan alleged that the ruling party with its strength in the house was trying to quell the opposition’s voice.
The UDF MLAs resumed the protest when Pinarayi Vijayan was responding to a submission. They took out a banner asking the chief minister to end his silence over the smuggling case. Meanwhile, the ruling MLAs also entered the well, forcing the Speaker to suspend the house for half an hour and leave the chair.
The UDF MLAs protested outside the house with the banner. Satheesan told reporters that the government was stifling the protest and the house had discussed issues including the Solar scandal, which was subjudice. He said the chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was scared of discussion. The Opposition targeted the Chief Minister after Swapna revealed that Sivasankar knew about the deals in UAE Consulate including the gold smuggling.