Kerala Assembly witnesses protest against Speaker

Press Trust og India

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Assembly complex witnessed an unprecedented protest on Wednesday as a section of opposition UDF legislators took out a march to the office of Speaker A N Shamseer and staged a sit-in there accusing him of being biased in the House.

Soon after their notice for adjournment motion on women's security was denied a nod in the House, the opposition staged a walkout and marched to Shamseer's office raising slogans and holding a banner in their hands saying 'Speaker should show justice'.

Tension prevailed in the complex for some time as Watch and Ward staff tried to remove the opposition MLAs by force from the premises of the Speaker's office and the latter objected to it firmly. Watch and Ward staff, also known as house marshals, oversee the security of the State Legislature and work under the control of the Speaker and the Secretary to the Legislature.

When heated arguments and a scuffle between the legislators and the security personnel ensued, Chalakudy MLA T J Saneesh Kumar Joseph developed some uneasiness and was shifted soon to the medical room. The Congress-led UDF alleged that besides the Watch and Ward personnel, some ruling legislators and the personnel staff of some ministers assaulted them.

Senior legislator and former home minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan was pushed, and MLA K K Rema's hand was twisted and dragged on the floor by fourfive women marshals, they alleged. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly V D Satheesan told reporters in the media room that four of their MLAs -- Rema, A K M Ashraf, T V Ibrahim and Saneesh Kumar -- suffered injuries during the incident.

"The democratic rights of the Opposition are continuously denied in the House. We tried to present the issue of the recent brutal assault faced by a minor girl as an adjournment motion but its notice was denied by the Speaker without any valid reason," he said.

Charging that the Speaker was pressured by the Chief Minister to curtail their rights, the Leader of Opposition also alleged that Vijayan was scared of questions and wanted to wind up the ongoing session at any cost to avoid this issue. He also alleged that the Chief Minister was an admirer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was trying to imitate what Modi was doing to the MPs in Parliament. He demanded immediate action against the ruling CPI(M) MLAs Sachin Dev and H Salam and the deputy chief marshal, who were accused of assaulting the opposition legislators.