A sense of Deja Vu dominated Assembly proceedings on Monday. In what seemed to be a blast from the past, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition took a page from the Left Democratic Front’s “bar bribery case” playbook and executed a pale parody of the pandemonium that unfolded during K.M. Mani’s Budget presentation in the Assembly in 2014 by disrupting the day’s proceedings in the House, though in a relatively muted faction.
Since the day of disruption that marked the 2014 Budget presentation, much water has flowed under the bridge.
Mani’s KC(M) joined the LDF after his death and is now on the treasury benches. The political script seemed largely unchanged since 2014, except for a stark reversal of roles in the Assembly in 2024.
Opposition legislators trooped into the House well with placards accusing the LDF of bar bribery. They mobbed Speaker A.N. Shamseer’s podium, forcing him to rush through the proceedings and adjourn the House for the day.
Congress legislator Roji M. John, who moved an adjournment motion to debate the “latest bar bribery case”, even echoed the words of V.S. Achuthanandan, the Leader of the LDF Opposition in the Assembly in 2014, who launched a fiery tirade against Mani.
Mr. John reminded the government that the Bible said hell and putrefaction awaited those who sacrificed ethics at the altar of self-enrichment. The wheel seemed to have turned the full circle in State politics.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan alleged that the Tourism department had overstepped its jurisdiction and held meetings with bar owners. He said the government offered bar owners the carrot of extending bar timings and reducing dry days in reciprocity for sizeable backhanders.
He said the leaked mobile phone voice note of an office-bearer of the bar hotel owners’ association revealed that the liquor lobby had initiated a collection to bribe the government. Mr. Satheesan demanded a Vigilance inquiry into the controversy.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan replied the police would register a case if their preliminary inquiry into the episode revealed an offence.
Excise Minister M.B. Rajesh attempted to turn the tables on the Opposition by detailing how the UDF’s “ill-thought-out and whimsical excise policy had decimated MICE tourism” in Kerala, hamstrung its economy, and rendered thousands of hotel industry workers jobless.
Mr. Rajesh accused the UDF of mischief-mongering. He said the government had yet to take up the excise policy, and nothing was amiss in the Tourism department’s routine engagement with stakeholders.
“The Congress has no issues in Karnataka, where its government has kept dry days to a minimal one,” he added.
