The Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) MLAs boycotted presentation of the 2016-17 budget by Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in the Assembly on Friday, after a brief protest inside the House alleging that the budget document had been leaked.
In sharp contrast to the violent happenings in the House when former Finance Minister K.M. Mani presented the budget last year, the Opposition members refrained from obstructing the presentation during the 10 minutes or so that they spent in the House. They trooped into the House almost together, almost everyone carrying placards accusing the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues of having taken bribesfrom the bar owners and the solar scam accused. On reaching their seats, some of the Opposition members unfurled banners seeking the resignation of Mr. Chandy and his scam-tainted cabinet colleagues.
Slogans
The LDF members shouted slogans even as Mr. Chandy began reading out the budget speech and marched into the well of the House led by Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan and then moved out of the House. They also held up sheets of paper which, they alleged, showed the budget estimates, indicating the alleged leak of the budget document.
After leaving the House, the Opposition members staged a sit-in for an hour before the Legislature Complex. Addressing the media, Mr. Achuthanandan alleged that the Chief Minister was presenting a leaked budget in the House. The government, he said, had no moral right to present the budget.
