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Kerala CM mocks Opposition MLA, triggers row
The chief minister was responding to the unruly scenes that unfolded in the Assembly on Wednesday when he made the controversial remarks about an opposition legislator
Kochi: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan sparked a row on Wednesday by mocking the height of an Opposition MLA, without naming him, during Assembly proceedings, inviting a sharp rebuke from the Congress.
Assembly proceedings were disrupted for the third consecutive day over the alleged misappropriation of gold assets from the Sabarimala temple with the Opposition MLAs almost coming to blows and scuffles with the watch-and-ward personnel in the well of the House. Large banners and posters, obstructing the view of Speaker AN Shamseer, were once again raised by the Opposition legislators, who vowed to continue the protests until the temple affairs minister, VN Vasavan, resigned.
The chief minister was responding to the unruly scenes that unfolded in the Assembly on Wednesday when he made the controversial remarks about an opposition legislator.
Without naming anyone, the CM said, “The Opposition MLAs are attacking the watch and ward personnel. A woman MLA was seen pushing the watch-and-ward personnel. There is a saying back home about short people. Such a short person was engaged in attacking the personnel here. He knows that he cannot do so with his short stature. It’s because of the protection he knows he has as an MLA inside the House that he is attacking the watch-and-ward personnel.”
Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan called the CM’s remarks a classic example of ‘body shaming’ and wrote to Speaker AN Shamseer requesting him to expunge the remarks from the Assembly’s official records.
“Does the Chief Minister of Kerala despise short people? Why is he angry at short people? This is body shaming and politically incorrect. He must take back the words and apologise. I have submitted a letter to the Speaker requesting to remove the remarks,” said Satheesan.
CM breaks silence on Sabarimala row
CM Vijayan broke his silence on the Sabarimala gold controversy in the Assembly on Wednesday and stated that his administration would punish the accused without checking their credentials.
“The HC has examined the issue. The State and the Devaswom Board have adopted the stand in the HC that a serious investigation must take place. We have never shielded any accused in any case. If anyone commits a crime, our aim has been to take stern action against that person. The HC has constituted an SIT investigation. The Opposition wants the probe to be handed over to the CBI. There is a clear politics behind it,” he said in the House.
LoP Satheesan alleged that former Devaswom minister and senior CPI(M) leader Kadakampally Surendran knows the rich person to whom the stolen Sabarimala ‘dwarapalaka’ gold plates were sold off to.
“Not just the ‘dwarapalaka’ sculptures, even the doors of the Sabarimala temple polished in gold have been stolen and sold,” he alleged.
The row erupted last month after the Special Commissioner (Sabarimala) in a report submitted to the HC claimed that the ‘dwarapalaka’ sculptures clad with gold have been sent out for renovation to Chennai without his permission. The HC, observing the report, pointed to the reduced weight of the gold plates when they came back from similar renovations in 2019, pointing to suspicions of theft and misappropriation.
