The ninth session of the 15th Kerala assembly will begin Monday during which heated debates and discussions are expected to take place between the treasury and opposition benches on a host of issues including the Speaker’s latest controversial remarks about Hindu myths and the state of children’s safety in the wake of the brutal rape and murder of a five-year-old in Ernakulam district, people familiar with the matter said.
The first day of the 12-day session, which is set to conclude on August 24, will see legislators paying tributes to former chief minister Oommen Chandy who died on July 18. This is the first time in over five decades that the assembly will be in session without the veteran Congress leader in attendance. Chandy, MLA from Puthupally constituency won continuously from 1970 till his death over a period of 12 terms. The session will adjourn for the day after MLAs mourn the former CM.
Some of the important Bills likely to be taken up during the session including the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Amendment Bill, 2023 and the Kerala Taxation (Amendment) Bill, 2023. Both Bills would replace ordinances passed by the government.
Other pieces of legislation are the Kerala Livestock and Poultry Feed, Mineral Mixture (Regulation of Manufacture and Sale), Bill 2022 and Kerala Co-operative Societies (Third Amendment) Bill 2022 which are likely to be discussed. They had earlier been referred to the select committee and their reports are expected to be discussed in the assembly.
{{/usCountry}}Other pieces of legislation are the Kerala Livestock and Poultry Feed, Mineral Mixture (Regulation of Manufacture and Sale), Bill 2022 and Kerala Co-operative Societies (Third Amendment) Bill 2022 which are likely to be discussed. They had earlier been referred to the select committee and their reports are expected to be discussed in the assembly.
{{/usCountry}}On August 11 and August 18, the assembly will discuss private members’ business and on August 21, the supplementary demands for grants for the 2023-24 budget, will be discussed and voted upon.
The upcoming session is expected to feature stormy debates around Speaker and Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA AN Shamseer’s remarks about ‘science versus myth’ and Hindu god Ganesh at a government school in July. Though Shamseer and his party CPM have clarified that his remarks did not hurt anyone’s religious sentiments and that there was no need to apologise, parties like BJP and community outfits like Nair Service Society (NSS) have asked for nothing less than a public apology.
The top leadership of the NSS met on Sunday during which it was decided to seek legal remedies as both the state government and the Speaker have not taken action or apologised for the controversial remarks. It has also moved the high court seeking to quash the case filed against its vice-president and several identifiable members for gathering illegally during a prayer protest against the Speaker.
“The NSS has taken a respectable decision. Instead of going for violent protests, it will seek legal remedies to correct the wrongs,” said KB Ganesh Kumar, a Left-aligned MLA and member of the NSS executive board.
At the same time, BJP state president K Surendran said the party will hold a ‘namajapa’ (chanting of hymns) procession towards the legislative complex on August 10 in protest against the Speaker’s remarks.