The Opposition continued its offensive over the ‘solar controversy’ for the third day in succession in the Assembly on Wednesday, this time attacking the government for the police action against Left youth activists agitating in the streets with the demand for the Chief Minister’s resignation.
Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan rejected the Opposition demand to adjourn the other proceedings of the House to discuss the ‘brutality unleashed by the police against the agitators’, asserting that the police action had become inevitable since the demonstrations in places such as Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Kochi, Kozhikode, Thrissur and Kannur on Monday and Tuesday were violent.
A remark
A remark from him, about the way the Opposition had framed its notice for the adjournment motion, but had introduced on the floor of the House ‘issues outside the theme of the notice’, ignited a sudden bout of slogan-shouting that made it impossible for the Speaker to continue the proceedings.
Speaker G. Karthikeyan rushed through the financial business listed for the day as Opposition members stood in the well of the House shouting slogans.
V.S. Sunil Kumar of the CPI(M), who had served the notice for the adjournment motion, alleged that the Home Minister had taken upon himself the task of protecting Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
He noted that Mr. Chandy had decided to keep out of his office two members of his personal staff for their ‘connection’ with Saritha Nair, who, along with her associate Biju Radhakrishnan, had duped several persons of large sums of money in the name of a fraudulent solar power venture.
The phones used for the contact with the woman were the very same phones used by Mr. Chandy to receive or make calls. If the errant members of the personal staff should go, by the same yardstick, the Chief Minister should resign, Mr. Sunil Kumar said.
He said the youth activists, who were conducting ‘peaceful agitation’ to press for the ‘just demand’ of the people for the resignation of a Chief Minister who had ‘provided all support to the con artistes’, were dealt with brutally by the police.
He said the youth organisations would block the Chief Minister from attending public functions and were ready to extend the same treatment to the other Ministers, if required.
“This agitation is not for the resignation of the government. We want the Chief Minister to resign because he had lent his support to the wrongdoers,” he said.
