Will continue protest demanding resignation of Devaswom Minister UDF

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 27 (PTI) The Congress-led UDF opposition on Tuesday told the Kerala assembly that it was continuing its protest demanding the resignation of state Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan in connection with the Sabarimala gold loss case, but will cooperate with the House proceedings.
    Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, V D Satheesan, said that as part of the protest, two UDF MLAs -- Najeeb Kanthapuram and C R Mahesh -- would be on 'satyagraha' outside the doors of the House.
    Responding to the opposition leader's statement, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that since the Sabarimala gold loss case probe is being monitored by the Kerala High Court, the UDF protest can only be seen as an agitation against the court and not the assembly.
    Subsequently, the opposition went outside the House and joined the 'satyagraha' by Kanthapuram, a legislator of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and Congress MLA Mahesh.
    On January 22, the opposition had disrupted the House proceedings demanding Vasavan's resignation.
    Following the disruption, the Speaker had cancelled the session scheduled for January 23 on the recommendation of the CM.
    The Sabarimala gold loss cases pertain to the alleged misappropriation of gold from the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols and the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) door frames at the temple.
    The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the matter has so far arrested 12 individuals, including Bengaluru-based businessman Unnikrishnan Potty, the prime accused in the case and two former presidents of the Travancore Devaswom Board.

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