Vijayan following Modi's line, says Cong in Kerala

The Opposition Congress stormed the Kerala Assembly on Monday also, alleging that the Pinarayi Vijayan government in the state was toeing the line of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.

"As Modi sent police to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's house, the Kerala government filed bogus cases against 7 Opposition MLAs... The Opposition's protests in the House are not being aired. The CM is evading questions. There is no room for discussion. The Opposition was unable to cooperate with the House since its rights were being denied," Congress leader V D Satheesan claimed in the Assembly.

The Assembly was disrupted with Opposition MLAs trooping to the well of the House and shouting slogans against the government during the question hour itself. Registering fake cases against Opposition MLAs over protest in front of the Speaker's office last week and denying permission to adjournment motion notices were the major issues raised by the Opposition.

The House was suspended after 30 minutes and the Speaker convened the business advisory committee meeting. But the Opposition kept off from the meeting and continued the demonstration when the House convened again. The Speaker then adjourned the House for the day.

Speaker expunges own remarks

Speaker A N Shamseer withdrew his recent remark in the House. He had said Congress MLA Shafi Parambil and other Opposition MLAs who staged a protest in the well of the House would get defeated in the next polls. In a ruling made in the House, the Speaker said that since his remarks were undesirable, they would be expunged from the records.

The Speaker also said that the complaints of legislative secretariat-run Sabha TV not airing footage of the Opposition's protest would be looked into. He denied the Opposition's allegations that adjournment motion notices were being rejected as per the government's interest.