Thiruvananthapuram: Amid the ongoing standoff in the Kerala Assembly, the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) Wednesday lashed out at Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for allegedly body-shaming one of its legislators.
Shortly after the Opposition staged a walkout over the alleged discrepancies in the gold in the Sabarimala temple, Vijayan alluded to the UDF legislator’s height without mentioning name for attempting to attack the ‘watch and ward’ personnel amid the assembly proceedings.
The opposition, he added, tried to disrupt Speaker N.Shamseer’s view by raising banners, which was unprecedented in the country.
Criticising the alleged remark, Leader of Opposition V.D.Satheesan demanded an apology from the chief minister.
“Does the CM loathe short people? This is body shaming, and he used a politically incorrect statement in the Assembly. I request the Speaker that either the CM should withdraw his statement and apologise, or it should be removed from Assembly records,” the Congress leader said, adding that the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M), always resorted to such statements while claiming to be progressive.
The Opposition has been protesting for the past three days, demanding the resignation of Devaswom Minister V.N.Vasavan over the alleged discrepancies in the gold in the Sabarimala temple.
On Wednesday, the protest turned into a ruckus as a few opposition MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly) raised banners in front of the Speaker. Some of them tried to climb his dais, but couldn’t as the ‘watch and ward’ (security) personnel were present there. Some ruling MLAs then proceeded to the Well of the House, leading to a tussle.
The opposition legislators staged a walkout alleging ill-treatment by the ruling party, after the Assembly reconvened, while the ruling MLAs alleged that a few UDF MLAs tried to attack the chief minister.
Vijayan alleged that the Opposition is only creating a smokescreen to politically benefit from the issue, instead of engaging in a real conversation.
“I am seeing this. One member of the opposition was trying to climb to the dais of the Speaker. Meanwhile, two-three were attacking the watch and ward. They are humans and have a lot of pressure on them. Why is the Opposition doing this, even to the women guards? We all saw that.
“There is a phrase used in my area, ‘Ettumukkal attivecha pole’ (denoting a weak attack). Someone who was only that tall tried to attack them. Everybody knows that they are not capable of it. But, they are utilising the Assembly’s privilege. These are highly condemnable,” the CM said.
Earlier, the Speaker had called for the meeting of all party members in the Assembly before the proceedings began but the Opposition boycotted it.
“They don’t want to discuss or find a solution. For the past few days, all the proceedings, including Question Hour, have been halted due to the opposition protest. What do they want?” Vijayan said, adding that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) had always given answers to the issues raised in submission, Question Hour, or adjournment motion, etc., which are not used by the Opposition now.
The ruling coalition, he added, supports the Kerala High Court’s decision to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged discrepancies at Sabarimala temple. “The LDF will never support the culprits.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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