Opposition accuses speaker of bias boycotts ministers' speeches in Kerala Assembly

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 10 (PTI) The Congress-led opposition UDF on Monday boycotted ministers' reply speeches during the discussion on demand of grants in the Kerala Assembly, accusing the Speaker of bias in allocating time to opposition members.
    Congress MLA A P Anilkumar alleged that the chair was unfairly restricting the opposition's speaking time in the House.
    Speaking to the media after the boycott, Anilkumar said, "The Speaker is supposed to protect the rights of opposition members as well. Unfortunately, he switches off their microphones."
    He accused that one day of the discussion had been cut short, with only an additional hour allotted. As a result, four to five ministers addressed the House, leaving members with less time to participate in the discussion.
    According to him, the Kerala Assembly has a long-standing precedent where CPI(M) leader V S Achuthanandan, as Leader of Opposition, was allowed to speak for 25 minutes.
    "When CPI(M) leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was Deputy Leader of Opposition, he spoke for 20 minutes during the demand of grants discussion. However, now the chair intervenes even if the UDF Leader of Opposition exceeds the time by just one minute," he said, calling it an infringement on the opposition's rights.
    Anilkumar raised the issue before Deputy Speaker Chittayam Gopakumar, who was presiding over the session, while Devaswom and Cooperation Minister V N Vasavan was addressing the House during the discussion.
    However, Deputy Speaker Gopakumar intervened, informing the members that the minister was concluding his speech. Despite this, opposition members rushed to the well in protest.
    "Although 40 minutes were allocated to the minister, he spoke for 50 minutes. We raised the matter after nearly an hour when Minister Vasavan was discussing politics beyond the topic at hand, yet the chair did not intervene to control him," Anilkumar said.
    However, he added that the chair was unwilling to listen to the opposition's concerns, prompting them to stage a boycott in protest.
    Earlier, Congress MLA Rahul Mamkoottathil raised the issue of former Kannur ADM Naveen Babu’s death, stating that he was "killed." However, his microphone was turned off mid-speech by C K Hareendran, who was presiding over the session, citing the time limit.
    This led to a verbal spat between the treasury benches and the opposition and the opposition protested by rushing to the well. Meanwhile, Excise Minister M B Rajesh criticised the opposition using a word to which the opposition objected.
    Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan claimed the opposition was being insulted and demanded that the minister’s remarks be expunged from the House records. Ultimately, the word was expunged.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)