Kerala Assembly speaker MB Rajesh (ANI photo)
Thiruvananthapuram: Nothing unusual or rare about it, is how Kerala Legislative Assembly Speaker M B Rajesh on Thursday described the adjournment of the previous day's proceedings in view of the turmoil in the House over the controversial remarks by CPM MLA Saji Cheriyan against the Constitution.
The Speaker, in a ruling passed in the morning, said that it came to his attention that there were news media reports from inside and outside the House which claimed that the calling off of the question and zero hours of the session for the day and concluding of the financial business without any discussion, was "unprecedented".
Giving details of what had transpired when the session commenced on Wednesday morning, the Speaker said that eight members of the opposition were called by the chair to ask questions, but they refrained from doing so and instead raised placards and chanted slogans.
The ninth MLA who was invited to ask a question was from the side of the ruling front, but his query was drowned in the commotion from both sides of the House, he said.
In view of the uproar in the House from both sides, it was clear that it would not be possible to proceed with the question hour as even when the Chief Minister got up to answer a query, the person who posed it was not ready to hear the reply, the Speaker said.
He said later there was criticism that the question and zero hours were called off in an unprecedented manner and that financial proceedings were completed without any discussion and in view of such "irresponsible remarks from various quarters" he decided to examine the steps taken by his predecessors in such situations.
The Speaker, referred to a 2013 ruling by a then Speaker -- who in turn had cited several precedents -- where the House proceedings were called off in view of the session being disrupted by the members of the legislative assembly.
In view of the observations of the then Speaker in the 2013 ruling, Speaker M B Rajesh said that any further explanation was not required regarding what had transpired on Wednesday, July 6.
He also referred to the very recent adjournment of the House proceedings for a day on June 27 when the question hour and thereafter, the zero hour were called off in view of the protests in the House by members of the opposition.
On Wednesday, the opposition, during question hour, had raised placards and raised slogans demanding Cheriyan's resignation from his cabinet posts in view of his recent comments against the Constitution.
Some ruling front MLAs too left their seats and shouted at the opposition leading to a commotion in the House.
PTI
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