The Legislative Assembly of Kerala. Opposition leader V D Satheesan on Monday said a High Court-monitored CBI probe should be carried out into the 'gold theft' at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple.
Credit: DH File Photo
Thiruvananthapuram: Proceedings of the Kerala Legislative Assembly were disrupted on Monday after the Opposition, Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), staged a protest in the House over the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple gold missing issue.
With Opposition MLAs trooping to the well of the House shouting slogans and raising a banner accusing the government of "stealing lord Ayyappa's gold", Speaker A N Shamseer rushed through the proceedings and adjourned the House for the day.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan said a High Court-monitored CBI probe should be carried out into the 'gold theft', Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan should tender his resignation and Travancore Devaswom Board president P S Prasanth should be expelled. The UDF would stage strong protests until these demands were met, he said.
He alleged that the government tried to hush up the irregularities in the quantity of gold in the plating that was evident in the devaswom board's documents in 2022 itself. This was due to the involvement of government and devaswom board officials in the looting, he alleged.
While the Speaker and ruling front MLAs accused the Opposition of creating disruption in the House without even giving notice for adjournment motion, Satheesan said that even as a notice for adjournment motion on the matter was given on September 19, the government denied permission, citing that the matter was pending before court.
Though the proceedings of the House were initially stopped temporarily owing to the Opposition's protest, the Speaker later decided to adjourn the House for the day as the Opposition continued with the protest when the proceedings resumed.
Meanwhile, the devaswom board's vigilance wing is likely to submit an interim report on the findings of the ongoing probe into the discrepancies in the weight of the gold plating.