Opposition law- 50 days makers in Kerala on Wednesday accused the ruling Left Democratic Front of using the Assembly marshals to manhandle them as they protested outside the Speaker’s office for continuous denial of adjournment motions to discuss serious issues in the state, including the recent garbage dump fire in Kochi that left thousands gasping for breath.
While the Opposition argued they were well within their rights to protest outside Speaker A.N. Shamseer’s office, the marshals maintained they had only asked them to move elsewhere in the building and denied allegations of manhandling the lawmakers.
Three Congress MLAs and seven marshals, five of them women, were admitted to the Government General Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram with minor injuries.
One of the hospitalised MLAs, Saneesh Kumar Joseph of the Congress, fainted during the melee. What triggered the protest was the denial of an adjournment motion sought by Congress MLA Uma Thomas to discuss last week’s brutal attack on a Class XI girl.
The girl was heading home after class when two bike-borne assailants assaulted her and left her injured. The accused, who have since been arrested, claimed it was a case of mistaken identity.
While the Speaker urged Thomas to make a submission instead, the Opposition protested at being regularly denied permission to discuss what they wanted.
The Speaker had on Tuesday refused to allow Congress member Roji M. John to move an adjournment motion on the garbage dump fire.
In a repeat of what happened on Tuesday, the Opposition walked out accusing the Speaker of denying them their right to raise serious issues in the Assembly.
But while leaving the House, John headed to the Well of the House and was heard shouting at the Speaker: “Show some spine and don’t be a slave of Pinarayi (Vijayan).”
The Opposition has been demanding a statement from chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on the garbage dump fire that left Kochi under a cloud of toxic smoke for twelve days until the situation was brought under control on Tuesday.
