Unruly scenes in Kerala assembly amid ugly spat between CM, LoP Satheesan

With the protests snowballing into a tense standoff between the ruling and Opposition MLAs, Speaker A N Shamseer quickly ran through the proceedings and adjourned the House for the day.
Unruly scenes in Kerala assembly amid ugly spat between CM, LoP Satheesan
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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In what is seen as a strategic failure, the Opposition UDF on Monday lost an opportunity to politically corner Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the Malappuram-PR agency row in the assembly, despite the government agreeing to a detailed discussion in the House.

The 12th session of the assembly began on a stormy note after the Opposition MLAs stepped onto the speaker’s podium, leading to the Watch and Ward pushing back them, forcing an early adjournment for the day.

The House witnessed an ugly war of words as the chief minister termed Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan’s behaviour ‘substandard’ while the latter termed Pinarayi ‘corrupt’.

The Opposition stepped up its protest despite the government surprisingly agreeing to its demand to discuss, through an adjournment motion, the chief minister’s purported statfadements on alleged unlawful activities in Malappuram district.

With the protests snowballing into a tense standoff between ruling and Opposition MLAs, Speaker A N Shamseer quickly ran through the proceedings and adjourned the House for the day.

The speaker’s sudden adjournment of the House amid the din came as a surprise to the Opposition MLAs whose plan was to get the House adjourned briefly before reassembling for the discussion on the adjournment motion at noon.

Tension began right from the start of the assembly proceedings during question hour at 9am. Satheesan accused the Speaker of acting at the behest of the government by striking down 49 written questions, many of which required answers from the CM. The speaker cut the microphone of the Opposition when they started asking about the gravity of a senior police officer in charge of Law and Order visiting a top RSS leader.

Soon it turned into a war of words between Shamseer and Satheesan.

‘UDF’s plans to tarnish govt’s image won’t succeed’

The Speaker asked who the leader of Opposition was when the UDF MLAs started behaving in an unruly manner. Satheesan termed it an immature comment on the part of the Chair. Soon, the Opposition boycotted question hour in protest.

Some of Satheesan’s remarks against Shamseer irked the CM, who accused the leader of the Opposition of being ‘immature’ and disrespectful to the speaker’s post. He also alleged that Satheesan’s behaviour in the assembly was “sub-standard”. Parliamentary Affairs Minister M B Rajesh also criticised Satheesan’s conduct in the House.

Satheesan’s critical remarks against the speaker were expunged from the assembly records. As soon as the House reassembled at zero hour, Satheesan trained his guns on the CM and also objected to his earlier remarks being expunged.

Satheesan said he prayed daily not to be “corrupt” like the chief minister nor “stoop down to his standards”.

The chief minister said there was no comparison between him and Satheesan. “The people know very well who Pinarayi Vijayan is and who Satheesan is,” he said.

Pinarayi said the UDF’s plans to tarnish his image and that of the LDF government will not succeed. He also repeated his allegation that Satheesan’s behaviour was ‘sub-standard’.

Soon, placard-wielding UDF MLAs marched to the well of the House shouting slogans. Some of them held a huge banner that read ‘RSS agenda, PV’s (Pinarayi Vijayan’s) script’. They repeatedly blocked the speakers’ view and tied the banner to the speaker’s podium.

In an unprecedented move, a few Opposition MLAs also stepped on to the Speaker’s podium in protest. The assembly’s Watch and Ward threw a security ring around the speaker.

LDF MLAs also assembled below the podium and began challenging the UDF MLAs, leading to a tense situation. At one point, Minister V Sivankutty was seen being dissuaded by the CM as he tried to take on the protesting UDF MLAs. Sensing more unruly scenes in the offing, the speaker adjourned the House for the day.

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