THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A standoff between ruling and Opposition MLAs following a war of words between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan forced early adjournment of the Assembly for the day on Monday.
Speaker AN Shamseer adjourned the House following the fierce protests by UDF MLAs even after the government had agreed to the Opposition's demand to discuss the Chief Minister's purported statements on alleged unlawful activities in Malappuram district, through an adjournment motion, at 12 noon.
Tension began right from the time the House assembled for question hour at 9 am. The Opposition's protest over not giving due importance to the questions raised by them forced adjournment of the House.
Satheesan criticised the Speaker's attitude towards the Opposition's questions. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Parliamentary Affairs Minister MB Rajesh mounted a scathing attack on Satheesan for targeting the Speaker. The Leader of the Opposition's remarks on the Speaker were expunged from the records.
Later when the House re-assembled at zero hour, Satheesan took on the Chief Minister for questioning his standards. Satheesan said he was a believer and his daily prayer was that he should not become a 'corrupt' person like Pinarayi Vijayan and that he should not stoop down to the Chief Minister's standards.
The Chief Minister shot back saying the people of Kerala would not believe Satheesan's allegations that he was corrupt. "The people know very well who Pinarayi Vijayan is and who VD Satheesan is," he retorted.
UDF MLAs trooped to the well of the House shouting slogans and holding a huge banner that read 'RSS agenda, PV's (Pinarayi Vijayan's) script'. They blocked the Speakers' view and tied the banner to the Speaker's dias. Soon, LDF MLAs also assembled below the dias, leading to a tense situation.
Meanwhile, Sabha TV cut out Satheesan's speech and the Opposition's protests from its deferred live streaming. Sensing that the situation would go out of hand, Speaker AN Shamseer adjourned the House for the day.