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Tumultuous scenes in Kerala assembly on Day 1 of monsoon session
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the behaviour of the opposition members was unacceptable. He said the Speaker was ready to take up the adjournment motion but the members boycotted the proceedings without any reason on Monday
The first day of the monsoon session of the Kerala assembly witnessed an uproar on Monday after the Congress-led opposition brought up the attack on party leader Rahul Gandhi’s office in Wayanad, even as both treasury and opposition members rushed to the well forcing the Speaker to adjourn the assembly.
When the house re-assembled after one-hour, Congress member T Siddique, who represents Kalpetta in Wayanad, gave notice for an adjournment motion and Speaker M B Rajesh said he will admit it. But heated exchanges between treasury and opposition members continued for some time and later the opposition stormed out of the assembly. Many opposition legislators wore black shirts in protest and carried photographs of the vandalised office of Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi.
Gandhi’s office in Kalpetta was allegedly attacked by a group of Students Federation of India, CPI (M) youth wing, activists on Friday inviting embarrassment for the ruling party. Later, police arrested 26 workers of the SFI including women.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the behaviour of the opposition members was unacceptable. He said the Speaker was ready to take up the adjournment motion but the members boycotted the proceedings without any reason.
“They junked the debate deliberately. They wanted to avoid a reply at any cost and did not want to clear the air. It is nothing but disruptive tactics of the Congress and they want to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere,” he said. He said the party district secretary to general secretary Sitaram Yechury had all condemned the attack and the government had also taken strong action but the Congress wanted to vitiate the atmosphere further.
He also raised serious allegations against Congress workers saying it was not SFI workers who had pulled down the photo of Mahatma Gandhi at the MP’s office during the attack. “Many channels beamed the picture of the office after the attack and Gandhi’s photo was intact in those visuals. It happened after Congress workers barged into the office. What Godse did literally, the Congress has done symbolically,” he said. But opposition leader V D Satheesan termed the new claim “a lie”.
“Humiliated, he did not have anything else to say. So the CM is coming out with new theories to justify the attack on the office. Mahatma Gandhi’s statue was decapitated in Payyanur two weeks ago in the Congress office during the CPI (M) protest and the police are yet to take action,” he said adding the CM was looking for excuses to justify the attack.
The Congress has decided to keep the issue alive till Gandhi’s visit to Wayanad on June 30. The party is planning a big reception for him and he will tour the constituency extensively for three days, party leaders said.
