Amidst protest and slogan shouting by Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) legislators, the Economic Review 2014 was tabled and the Supplementary Demands for Grants in the budget for the financial year 2014-15 was passed by the Assembly on Thursday.
The protest by the Opposition commenced after Speaker N. Sakthan refused to grant leave for an adjournment motion moved by P. Thilothaman, V. Sivankutty, C.K. Nanu, and A.K. Saseendran demanding steps to prevent Finance Minister K.M. Mani from presenting the budget.
After a heated debate, Leader of Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan reiterated that they would not allow Mr. Mani to present the budget as he was involved in a Vigilance case and had misused the official position.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala would be responsible for the consequences, he said and announced that LDF legislators were staging a sit-in in the House to protest against the denial of the adjournment motion.
Soon the LDF legislators moved to the well of the House displaying placards and raising slogans against Mr. Mani and demanded his resignation. The Speaker adjourned the House by 12.20 noon. After separate consultations with the ruling and Opposition front, the Speaker resumed the House at 1 p.m.
The Speaker announced the suspension of the calling attention motion and submissions and proceeded with the listed business for the day.
Economic Review
Amidst slogan shouting, the Finance Minister tabled the Economic Review 2014. State Ministers and members Varkala Kahar and C.P. Mohammed tabled reports of Assembly Committees on Local Funds and Environment.
The House passed the supplementary demands for grants in the budget for the financial year 2014-15 without any discussion. After this, the Speaker adjourned the House at 1.20 p.m.
Earlier, moving the motion, Mr. Thilothaman said the Finance Minister should not be allowed to present the budget. The sanctity of the budget had been lost as Mr. Mani had sold the budget to make personal gains.
The Chief Minister, who replied, said the allegations against Mr. Mani were being probed by the VACB and that the progress of the probe was being reported to the Court.
On the allegation that three others were also involved, Mr. Chandy said there was no evidence in the CD as it was a conversation between two affected persons. All should think over whether such cases should be presented in the House and subjected to trial. Mr. Mani, who replied, said it was politically motivated and pointed out that former Ministers A.K. Balan and Paloli Mohammedkutty did not resign even after being sentenced by courts. This led to unruly scenes in the House. Mr. Balan said he was sentenced for train picketing and the sentence had been suspended. Minister for Home and Vigilance Ramesh Chennithala, Minister for Excise K. Babu, and Minister for Health V.S. Sivakumar denied the allegations.
