The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition on Tuesday disrupted the Assembly proceedings after Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan denied it leave to table a motion to adjourn the pre-determined business of the House to discuss the “financial opaqueness and corruption” in the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) and Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL ).
The stand-off between the government and the UDF centred around the Opposition’s allegation that the government had repeatedly stonewalled attempts by the Comptroller and Auditor General to examine the accounts of KIAL and KIIFB to hide its financial shenanigans.
Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) treated the public-funded entities as milch cows to bankroll its political programmes.
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The party feared that the proverbial skeletons in the cupboard would spill out if the CAG examined the accounts.
Mr. Sreeramakrishnan denied consent to Congress legislator V.D. Satheeshan to raise the issue as an adjournment motion on the ground that Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac had dwelt in detail on the subject earlier.
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Opposition members trooped into the well of the House, accusing the Speaker of batting for the government. They crowded around his dais, held a black banner aloft and raised slogans against the chair.
The Opposition alleged Mr. Sreeramakrishnan’s ‘visceral fear’ of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had compelled him to deprive the Opposition of its inalienable right to hold the political executive to account.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister A.K. Balan said the government had complied with the demands of the CAG.
Dr. Isaac said there was nothing dubious about KIIFB and KIAL accounts. The government had not obstructed the CAG from reviewing the accounts. The CAG had already audited KIIFB twice.
Two Bills passed
Amidst the turmoil, the House passed two Bills by voice vote and without discussion.
They are the Kerala Cooperative Hospital Complex, the Academy of Medical Sciences and Allied Institutions (Taking Over and Administration) Bill, 2019 and the Kerala Panchayat Raj (Amendment) Bill, 2019.