JOIN USDollar smuggling: UDF boycotts Kerala Assembly proceedings for second day; demands CM's reply
The opposition UDF members continued to boycott the Kerala Assembly proceedings for the second consecutive day on Friday protesting the alleged unwillingness of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to reply on the reported revelations against him by an accused in the controversial dollar smuggling scam.
After intense sloganeering and banner protests inside the House and a brief sit-in at the entrance of the Assembly hall, the Congress-led UDF members erected a human wall in front of the main gate to express their disagreement over Vijayan''s silence. The Assembly adjourned sine die later.
As soon as the question hour began, the UDF members started sloganeering, urging the Chief Minister to give his reply on the floor of the House regarding the serious revelations against him in the case. They also raised banners in the House which could be read as "The CM should end his silence", against which Speaker M B Rajesh gave a strict warning saying it was against Assembly rules.
When opposition leader V D Satheesan pointed out that it was inappropriate to continue the proceedings without discussing the allegations that cropped up against the Chief Minister, Rajesh said it was a matter disposed of yesterday (Thursday) itself. Though Vijayan was present in the House from the beginning, he did not utter any word despite the opposition continuing their protest.
As the Speaker went ahead with the question hour, the UDF announced boycott of the proceedings and walkout of the House. After inaugurating the protest human wall outside, Satheesan said later that the Chief Minister's continued silence has evoked anxiety and suspicion in the minds of people of the state. "Vijayan is reluctant to give a reply in the House as he is scared. He cannot simply lie in the House. As the people of the state, we are also waiting for him to end the silence and hear his reply on the issue," he said.
He also termed their protest human wall as an "anti-corruption" wall. Adopting an unprecedented mode of protest, the opposition had convened a symbolic "House" in front of the main gate on Thursday after boycotting the proceedings as their notice seeking an adjournment motion over the issue was denied permission for presentation.
The state assembly witnessed continuous protests by the opposition after a section of the media recently reported that the Customs had issued a show-cause notice to the accused in the gold and dollar smuggling case indicating alleged involvement of Vijayan in smuggling dollars abroad.
The Customs notice was reportedly issued based on the alleged statement of the prime accused in the gold and dollar smuggling cases, that Vijayan and former Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan were involved in smuggling foreign currency to the UAE through the officials of its Consulate here.
The LDF government suffered another setback on Wednesday as the Kerala High Court stayed its order appointing a Commission of Inquiry to look into any alleged attempt by the Enforcement Directorate to implicate Vijayan in the gold smuggling through diplomatic channels case, saying a parallel inquiry would "derail the investigation" in the matter.
Meanwhile, Speaker Rajesh, inside the House, announced the assembly adjourned sine die ending the 17-day-long second session of the 15th Assembly.