Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 15 (PTI) Opposition UDF on Thursday disrupted the proceedings in the Kerala Assembly accusing the Left government of being ‘looters,’ as noisy scenes prompted the Speaker to rush through the business for the day before adjourning the House sine die.
The Congress-led Opposition went up in arms against Speaker A N Shamseer’s refusal to allow Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan to continue with his allegations against state Food and Supplies Minister G R Anil.
Satheesan initially submitted that the Minister insulted the House by announcing to reporters outside the Assembly about the government’s new pricing mechanism for SupplyCo when the issue was being discussed in the House.
The Congress leader claimed the Left front came to power by promising there would not be any hike in prices of daily essentials and that it has now been violated by the government. He demanded that its decision regarding the new pricing mechanism be withdrawn.
Anil refuted the allegations and said the government has actually increased the subsidy on 13 daily essentials sold through SupplyCo from 26 per cent to 35 per cent. The Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation is popularly known as Supplyco.
He also said when reporters sought a clarification regarding some news reports on the issue, he had answered them, but other than that he had not made any announcements.
As Satheesan began countering the Minister’s contentions by claiming they were not true, the Speaker cut him short saying the Chair can only believe the Minister who had said there was no price hike, but only an increase in subsidy. Anil has not insulted the House.
As the Speaker began to move on to the next submissions, many UDF MLAs trooped into the well of the House and stood before the Speaker’s dais holding up placards which accused the government of being ‘looters’ and also held up a banner — “Kerala looted. PV and company” — which obscured Shamseer’s view.
Subsequently, several MLAs of the ruling LDF front also got up from their seats and stood on the fringes of the well of the House and shouted at the opposition, asking them to resume their seats.
As some members from the opposition continued shouting, even after the LDF MLAs went back, the House rushed through the remaining legislative and financial business and then the Speaker adjourned the Assembly sine die (indefinitely).
The House passed the Vote on Account, the Kerala Finance Bill, 2024, the Kerala Appropriation Bill, 2024 and Kerala Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill, 2024 without any discussion as the opposition remained in the well of the House shouting slogans.
Before adjourning the House , the Speaker also read out a summary of the business conducted by the House during the 10th session of the Assembly. PTI HMP HMP SS SA
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