The Congress-led Opposition UDF on Monday disrupted the proceedings of the Kerala Assembly over the incidents of political violence continuing in the capital, Thiruvananthapuram, and elsewhere in the State between the ruling CPI(M) and the BJP-RSS forcing the Speaker to announce adjournment for the day soon after Question Hour on the very first day of the seventh session of the 14th Assembly.
The Opposition members, who had arrived in the House with placards, banners and slogans demanding an end to political violence, stalled the proceedings after the Speaker refused leave for an adjournment motion on the issue for which notice was moved by senior Congress member K Muraleedharan, who alleged breakdown of the law and order system in the State.
Muraleedharan accused the CPI(M) and BJP-RSS of destroying peace and tranquility in the State by indulging in violence and alleged that the two sides seemed to have entered into some sort of pact. He said 18 political murders had taken place in Kerala since the CPI(M)-led lDF came to power in May, 2016 and 17 of those incidents were between the CPI(M) and BJP.
“The State BJP unit, which was struggling to save its face in the wake of the bribery scam in that party (relating to Medical Council approval to private medical colleges), got a new lease of life after CPI(M) activists vandalized its State committee office and murdered an RSS functionary (in Thiruvananthapuram on July 27 and 29 respectively),” the Congress legislator said.
Muraleedharan said that the CPI(M) and the Government were responsible for creating a situation where Governor P Sathasivam could summon Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to the Raj Bhavan over the issue of law and order. “The Chief Minister should disclose the reason why the Governor had summoned him,” he said.
Replying to the notice for the motion, the Chief Minister claimed that the law and order situation in the State was intact, that Kerala ranked first in the list of States in this matter and that the allegations contrary to this were baseless. “Political violence has taken place in the past also but this time a campaign of lies is being carried out and this is done on purpose,” he said.
Pinarayi claimed that the police had acted swiftly and effectively when violence erupted in the capital. “When the RSS functionary was killed, six culprits behind the murder were caught within 12 hours,” he said. There was no situation in Kerala where human beings were being killed in the name of cow and this was because of Kerala’s secularism, he added.
Speaking on the issue, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said it was strange to hear the Chief Minister speaking about killing of Muslims in North India while feigning ignorance about the killings perpetrated by his own partymen. “What is happening here is a stage-managed event launched jointly by the CPI(M) and the BJP-RSS,” he said.
After the Chief Minister’s reply, Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan refused leave for the adjournment motion which prompted the Opposition members to raise stiff protest by shouting slogans and rushing to the Well of the House. Following this, the Speaker rushed through the business and adjourned the House for the day.
lone BJP member O Rajagopal staged a walkout protesting the political violence unleashed against his party workers by the CPI(M) and the biased approach of the police. “The police have been politicized under the CPI(M)-led regime. Officers who wish to work lawfully are not allowed to do so and free hand is given to officials favouring the Government,” he said.
During the Question Hour which saw a unity between the ruling and Opposition sides in attacking the BJP, the Chief Minister made a very serious allegation by stating that the State Intelligence had warned about the possibility of the BJP resorting to violence in order to divert public attention from the bribery scam involving some of its functionaries.
“A situation had come up (due to the bribery scandal) where the BJP’s real face was revealed. It was said that the BJP could adopt some wrong measures in the context of the large-scale allegations against it,” Pinarayi, also holding the Home portfolio, told the House and added that certain precautionary measures had indeed been taken in that situation.
Referring to the claim about the Intelligence warning, State BJP president Kummanam Rajasekharan said the Chief Minister’s statement in the Assembly was misleading and termed it as a cooked up story. Accusing Pinarayi of distorting facts, Kummanam asked why the Government had failed in taking effective action if there was such an Intelligence report.