Thiruvananthapuram: A day after scenes of outrage unfolded in the assembly following Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's taunt at Opposition leader V D Satheesan, Kerala Assembly Speaker A N Shamseer on Tuesday allowed a motion to reprimand UDF legislators -- Mathew Kuzhalnadan, Sajeev Joseph, Anwar Sadath and IC Balakrishnan -- for approaching the Speaker's dais on October 7 and ignoring the instructions of the Watch and Ward officers. The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, M B Rajesh moved the motion. "These members violated the rules of procedure and conduct of business and disrespected the Speaker," Rajesh said.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan defended the legislators, stating that the Speaker's refusal to seek consensus and hold a discussion led to the protest on Monday.
Meanwhile, an adjournment motion to discuss the meeting between ADGP Ajith Kumar and RSS leaders is scheduled for noon. The discussion has been allotted two hours.
The government's decision to discuss the opposition's adjournment notice regarding the controversial remarks allegedly made by the Chief Minister about Malappuram was withdrawn on Monday. The Assembly was adjourned on Monday after a protest on the floor of the House following an intense verbal spat between the Chief Minister and the Opposition Leader. Angry opposition members climbed onto the podium of Speaker A N Shamseer who tried to conduct the business amid the ruckus, and even held a black banner preventing the House from seeing his face. The heated war of words between the CM and the LoP escalated after Vijayan strongly criticised the latter for attacking the chair. The controversy began when Satheesan announced the boycott of question hour, protesting the conversion of 49-starred questions into non-starred ones. Watch and Ward personnel had to forcibly push MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan (Congress) away when he tried to enter the Speaker's dias amidst the melee.
As the protest and sloganeering escalated, and the Congress-led UDF members were reluctant to return to their seats despite repeated requests, the Speaker adjourned the House for the day. Subsequently, irate opposition members staged a protest in the House, prompting the Speaker to suspend the other listed businesses and adjourn the House for the day. Later, the opposition walked out of the House, holding banners and raising slogans against the government.
Addressing reporters in the newsroom, Law Minister P Rajeeve rejected the opposition charges and said the UDF members deliberately created a ruckus in the House to avoid the scheduled discussion on Malappuram in the House. "They expected that there would be a normal adjournment motion, and they could continue with their lies outside for their political gains," he said. But the minister added that the government took a stand to discuss the issue on the floor of the House to stop creating more misunderstandings and divisions in society over the issue.