Kerala Assembly has suspended five Opposition MLAs from the House holding them guilty of having occupied the Speaker's podium and destroyed equipment and furniture in the melee at the time of presentation of the 2015-'16 budget by Finance Minister K.M. Mani.
The MLAs--E.P. Jayarajan, K.T. Kuhammed, V. Sivankutty, K.T. Jaleel and K. Ajith--have been suspended till the end of the ongoing budget session. Moving the motion seeking the suspension of the five MLAs, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the happenings in the House on Friday were unprecedented and needed to be viewed with great seriouness.
The suspension of the five members plunged the House into a turmoil with the suspended members and their Opposition colleagues occupying the well of the House, forcing Speaker N. Sakthan to announce dispersal of the House. In between, the Chief Minister sought compression of the customary three-day debate on the budget to one day and that the House need meet only on March 23 to take up the Vote on Account. In between, the Finance Minister announced withdrawal of the levies on essential commodities announced in the budget.
Reacting sharply to the suspension, Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan said it was 'arbitrary' and unacceptable to the Opposition. He came down heavily on the Speaker and the Chief Minister for their silence about the the 'assault' on women Opposition MLAs.
Deputy leader of the CPI(M) legislature party Kodiyeri Balakrishnan announced that the Opposition would take its agitation to the people.
