THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Assembly proceedings were disrupted on Tuesday as the Opposition trooped into the well of the House shouting slogans demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and insisted that an adjournment motion on the matter should be allowed.
While Mr Chandy rejected the allegations against him stating that he was subjected to 14 hours of examination by the Solar Commission and was not even examined by Saritha's counsel, CPM state secretary and deputy leader of the Opposition Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said it was coming to light that the CM had been lying.
Opposition leader V. S. Achuthanandan said Mr Chandy might get a place in Limca Book of Records for continuously lying for 14 hours. "I feel ashamed that the chair once I occupied is now being occupied by a person like Mr Chandy. Saritha was said to have a close connection with even Mr Chandy's family," he said.
Remarks of Mr Achuthanandan linking Mr Chandy's family with Saritha triggered protests from treasury benches. To counter this, LDF legislators trooped into the well, shouting slogans demanding Mr Chandy's resignation.
Though Speaker N. Sakthan suspended the House for nearly one hour and held talks with leaders of ruling and Opposition legislature party leaders, the Opposition insisted on their demand that the adjournment motion should be allowed.
As they reiterated this demand while the House resumed and, owing to the noisy scenes, the Speaker adjourned the House for the day suspending other proceedings including the introduction of motion of thanks to Governor's address.
Mr Balakrishnan, who gave notice for an adjournment motion, said the UDF government was now surviving on a two-month stay from the High Court. "It is like a ventilator support. Once it is switched off, everything will be close," he said.
He stated that certain fresh revelations over the recent days had exposed that Mr Chandy had been lying about his connection with the Solar scam accused.
"The Opposition was not going after the allegations of a scamster, but the statements of IPS officers and conversations of some Congress leaders with Saritha vindicate the allegations against Mr Chandy,” he said.
While replying to the charges, Mr Chandy said he was pained as the Opposition was taking up allegations raised by those accused in many criminal cases.
"Though Saritha earlier alleged that CPM offered her Rs 10 crore for raising allegations against the government, I had not taken it up considering her tainted credentials," Mr Chandy said.
Home minister Ramesh Chennithala said the UDF would fight the allegations and complete its tenure and that the Thrissur vigilance court order to register a case against Mr Chandy and power minister Aryadan Mohammed was just based on newspaper reports. Such acts would affect all public workers.
Mr Mohammed denied the bribery allegation against him stating that he did not extend any favour to them.
