Congress-led Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) legislators disrupted the Kerala Assembly proceedings on Thursday to protest Wednesday’s manhandling of Opposition members by ruling front MLAs and watch and ward personnel.
For the first time in this session, question hour was also disrupted after the Opposition raised slogans and insisted that the speaker should allow the adjournment motion brought in by injured MLA Rema on Wednesday’s incidents.
Speaker AN Shamseer began the proceedings with a reconciliatory approach.However, the Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan made it clear that the Speaker should take action against two CPI-M MLAs and the deputy chief marshal of the ‘watch and ward’ staff for assaulting the UDF MLAs while staging a protest outside the office of the Speaker on Wednesday.
VD Satheesan said that CPI-M legislators attacked Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) member K K Rema , and fractured her arm. Ms. Rema had arrived at the House with her arm in a cast. She accused CPI-M legislator A H Salam of having inflicted the injury.
As the question hour session was progressing, the opposition protested. The opposition members raised anti-government slogans and held banners in the House.Following this, Speaker Shamseer quickly ended the proceedings and the Assembly was adjourned.
The Assembly had witnessed unprecedented scenes on Wednesday when opposition members marched to the office of the Speaker and entered into a scuffle with watch and ward personnel and ruling party members.
Earlier at the all-party meeting called by the Speaker, there was a fierce war of words between Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijatyan and Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan . The chief minister said adjournment motion could not be allowed on every issue. However, Satheesan said the approval was a precondition for the smooth functioning of the Assembly.
The chief minister asked why the Opposition leader was speaking emotionally and provocatively, VD Satheesan retorted that who is speaking out of balance. Satheesan asked how many times the chief minister intervened when Mathew Kuzhal Nadan spoke in the Assembly.
Meanwhile, police registered cases against Opposition and ruling party legislators and watch and ward personnel of the Assembly in connection with the incidents that took place on Wednesday before the Speaker’s office at the Assembly complex.
While seven United Democratic Front (UDF) legislators were charged with non-bailable offences like rioting and barging into an office to cause hurt, two ruling party members were booked under bailable charges.