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Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 9 (IANS) Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president and MLA Sunny Joseph on Thursday alleged that the suspension of three opposition MLAs from the Assembly was the result of a “well-planned conspiracy” by Speaker AN Shamseer and the claims of attack on the Chief Marshal were “completely fabricated”.
Tension escalated in the Assembly when Speaker Shamseer suspended three opposition Congress MLAs, Rosie M. John, M. Vincent and Sanish Kumar, following a confrontation in which the Chief Marshal was injured.
Joseph said that during the uproar in the House, no opposition member attacked the Chief Marshal.
“Assembly proceedings are broadcast on television. If there was an attack, it would have been visible. No such incident happened,” he said.
He alleged that before announcing the Chief Marshal’s injury, the Speaker went to his chamber and made a plan.
“This is not the first time such baseless claims have been made. Earlier too, similar allegations had been rejected after medical examination,” he said.
Joseph accused the ruling CPI-M of attempting to suppress legitimate opposition in the House.
“When ministers physically protested against opposition MLAs, the chief minister decided to justify it,” he said, reminding that many from the ruling CPI-M had themselves led violent protests in the past.
He cited how in 2015, current Education Minister V. Sivankutty had climbed onto a desk during the last Assembly uproar, calling it a “permanent stain on democratic decorum”.
The Congress leader linked the protests to the growing controversy over alleged theft of gold offerings at the Sabarimala temple.
“Devaswom minister VN Vasavan himself has admitted that theft took place during the first CPI-M government led by Pinarayi Vijayan. This confirms the allegations being made by the opposition,” he said.
He announced that the Congress would intensify its protest, starting with a major believers’ gathering in Pathanamthitta, followed by a statewide protest march culminating in Pandalam on October 18.
The Sabarimala gold plating controversy has rocked the Kerala Assembly and since Monday, the Congress-led opposition has been on the war path and vowed not to relent if Vasavan resigns.
–IANS
SG/KHz