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The Kerala Assembly on Tuesday passed a motion to reprimand four of its members belonging to the opposition United Democratic Front. They are accused of acting in breach of parliamentary etiquette when they were protesting against the Speaker in the well of the House on Monday.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister MB Rajesh moved the motion. "The opposition's act of raising a banner to cover the Speaker's face was a breach of parliamentary etiquette. Despite repeated calls from the chair to stop, the opposition continued their disruptive behaviour. The motion strongly condemned the incident and urged stern warnings against members I.C. Balakrishnan, Anwar Sadath, Saji Joseph, and Mathew Kuzhalnadan for their involvement in the incident," the motion said. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has alleged that the Opposition's conduct crossed all boundaries "The Opposition Leader claims that insulting the Speaker and engaging in disorderly conduct is their right. There must be a certain limit in maintaining the dignity of the Assembly. Previously, CPI[M] MLAs James Mathew and TV Rajesh were suspended for similar scuffles in the Assembly. What we saw yesterday was an action that crossed all boundaries," Vijayan said in the House on Tuesday. "The Opposition Leader wasn't even willing to deny the act of climbing onto the Speaker's dais. His conduct does not align with parliamentary traditions. The Speaker took the necessary steps as per parliamentary procedures. Yesterday's commotion was part of a deliberate attempt to avoid discussion. The House was in total disarray, and at that point, the proceedings had to be wrapped up quickly. The Speaker acted in accordance with the rules, and this motion should be passed by the Assembly," he added. However, Leader of the Opposition in the House, VD Satheeshan, said that holding banners in the Assembly is not new in its history. "The Speaker adjourned the House without calling the member who gave the notice for the adjournment motion. Who is the one running away? Holding banners in the Assembly is not new in its history. Slogans against the Speaker are also not new. There have been slogans raised against the Speaker before as well. The Speaker must remain neutral. The speaker is unnecessarily intervening in matters. We strongly oppose the motion," Satheeshan said. The 12th session of the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly on Monday witnessed an uproar during Question Hour, with the opposition expressing strong discontent over the downgrading of 45 starred questions. Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan led the charge, accusing the Speaker and the government of side-lining important issues of State and national interest, and denying the opposition the right to raise critical questions. Satheesan criticized the move, arguing that the questions were of public importance and that the opposition's right to seek answers was being undermined. In response, Speaker AN Shamseer clarified that according to the Assembly rules, questions cannot be made public until asked during the Session. He also defended the decision to convert the starred questions, stating that it was not a rule violation but based on the nature of the speculative questions. Despite the Speaker's explanation, the opposition persisted with their protest, demanding accountability on significant issues, including the meeting between the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Law and Order, MR Ajith Kumar with leaders of RSS. (ANI)
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