In an unprecedented move, the Opposition UDF boycotted the replies of ministers in the Assembly on Thursday in protest against what Opposition Leader V D Satheesan termed as the calculated attempt of the ruling benches to disrupt the speeches of UDF MLAs during the adjournment motion moved earlier in the day.

Satheesan sprang the surprise right after Congress's A P Anilkumar ended his speech as part of the Discussion and Voting on Demands for Grants in the 2025-26 Budget; Anilkumar was the last speaker before the ministers began their replies.

Satheesan began by reminding Speaker A N Shamseer that he had already, while making his walk out speech earlier in the day, registered his strong protest at the deliberate ploy of LDF MLAs to drown out UDF speeches by shouts. "As part of that, we are boycotting the replies of ministers. We are doing this so that what happened earlier today is not repeated," Satheesan said.

There were big shouts from the ruling side when Muslim League leader Najeeb Kanthapuram moved the motion and later when the Opposition Leader made his walk out speech. The Speaker had even refused to let Kanthapuram conclude his speech.

Satheesan was indifferent to the Speaker's attempt to reason with him. "We are going to express our solidarity with the ASHA workers who are on a hunger strike and for whom the ruling side has nothing but contempt and ridicule," he said.

The Speaker still tried to dissuade the UDF. "The members have raised some serious concerns and issues during this demand discussion. The Chair's request, therefore, is that you should listen to the reply of ministers," the Speaker said.

Satheesan had a quick counter. "The issues we bring to the Assembly (as adjournment motions) are also very important and serious ones."

He reminded the Speaker that he had kept politics aside while participating in the adjournment motion, on the poor wages of anganwadi workers. "I had stuck to the subject, but no opposition leader would have had to endure the kind of insults and abuses that I was incessantly showered with today. They were deliberately trying to obstruct our speeches. We intend to respond not by obstructing the speeches of ministers but by boycotting them. We just want to register our protest," Satheesan said and walked out with the rest of the UDF members.

The ministers slated to speak were: irrigation minister Roshy Augustine, civil supplies minister G R Anil, animal husbandry minister J Chinchurani and minister for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes O R Kelu.

Nonetheless, the boycott in the afternoon was a relatively calmer means of protest than the one the opposition leader had threatened earlier in the day. Towards the end of his walk out speech during the adjournment motion, Satheesan's anger seemed so unquenched that even after concluding his speech, he came back and once again registered his protest, this time against the Speaker. "You did not protect us, and our protest is also against that," he said, and angrily gesticulating at the ruling side, added: "If things go on like this, we will not cooperate with the Assembly proceedings. Ministers will not speak," he said and walked out repeating "ministers will not speak". Later, after the boycott, law minister P Rajeev made a foxy reference to Satheesan's threat. "In fact, earlier, he had said he would not let the ministers speak," he said with a sarcastic smile.