Kerala Assembly session adjourned as UDF opposition raises slogans against 'SFI goondaism'

The fifth session of the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly was adjourned on Monday morning after the opposition members started shouting slogans in connection with recent political developments in the state, including the vandalism of Rahul Gandhi's Wayanad office allegedly by SFI activists.

As the question hour of the Assembly session commenced at 9 AM, the opposition began thumping the tables and then as the first question was being answered, they started shouting slogans.

Speaker M B Rajesh urged them several times to refrain from disrupting the question hour of the House, but the opposition members did not pay heed.

The Speaker also asked the opposition members to sit down and not wave placards and banners as it was a violation of the House norms.

He also said that their notice for adjournment was before him for consideration, but the opposition members continued shouting slogans, like "SFI goondaism."

However, they did not pay heed to that either and resulted in a shouting match between them and the LDF MLAs.

As the opposition was not willing to quieten down despite his repeated urgings, the Speaker said the session is adjourned for now and walked away.

He did not say when it would recommence and till 9.42 AM it had not commenced.

The fifth session was expected to take a turbulent turn as the opposition led by the Congress was equipped with enough ammunition, ranging from the startling revelations by a key accused in the gold smuggling case against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to the vandalisation of Rahul Gandhi's office by SFI activists, to take on the CPI(M)-led LDF government.

The one-month-long session was being convened mainly to discuss and pass the demands for grants for the financial year 2022-23.

However, the Congress-led UDF had made it clear that they would raise the ongoing controversies in the House.

In a never before seen procedure in the Kerala Assembly, Monday, the opening day of the new session, saw tumultuous scenes when the TV News Channels were asked not to cover the Question Hour live and the Opposition cried foul.

The TV media were told to use the video output provided by the Information and Public Relations Department. However, not a single visual of the protests by the Congress-led Opposition were shown, prompting them to launch a scathing attack on the Pinarayi government.

In the previous session on account of the Covid protocol the general consensus was the video output will be provided and it was used by the more than dozen TV channels and on Monday the same scenario was extended.

Apart from the blanking out of the opposition protest, strict protocols have been introduced that the media personnel will have to "stick to only their area and should not hang around in front of the Minister's offices and also the office of the Leader of Opposition".