Opposition walks out after speaker declines to expunge objectionable question

Thiruvananthapuram: The opposition walked out of the House when a question posed by a ruling front MLA was found objectionable and the speaker declined to expunge it. The question was asked during the Question Hour. Speaker M B Rajesh said that it can be excluded only on the written request of the MLA. Furious over this, the opposition members walked out of the House.

The opposition took objection to the question posed by K D Prasannan who said the opposition had tried to stall the relief works during the previous Pinarayi-government rule. Opposition leader V D Satheesan said it was a question against the Rules of Procedure of the House and requested the speaker not to record the question in document.

The objectionable question was marked as the third question during the Question Hour and generally members do not ask any unpleasant questions that irks the opposition. Hence this is against the rules and must be removed from records, said V D Satheesan.

The speaker first said that he would examine the question but when V D Satheesan pointed it out again, the speaker said it could be expunged only by the MLA himself on request. The opposition, enraged over this, walked out in the midst of the Question Hour.