The State government maintained a stoic silence over the controversy over the postponement of a Cabinet meeting on Friday for want of quorum. As the Opposition stoked the controversy, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the other absentee Ministers, except for Fisheries Minister J. Mercykutty Amma, did not react to it.
Twelve Ministers reportedly did not attend the Cabinet meeting of Friday. The Communist Party of India’s four nominees in the Cabinet had conveyed their inability to attend the meeting in view of the party’s Wayanad district conference. CPI(M) Ministers such as G. Sudhakaran, K.C. Moideen, Kadakampally Surendran and Ms. Mercykutty Amma, among others, had attended various functions, some in their constituencies.
Government sources claimed that there was no constitutional or legal provision that warranted a quorum for a Cabinet meeting. However, there was a reference to quorum for Cabinet meetings in the Secretariat Instructions, which presumably comes under the business rules.
Only Ms. Mercykutty Amma responded to the news reports, stating that she had informed the Chief Minister about her inability to attend the meeting. Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala had termed the issue a slur on the State’s image. It was unfortunate that the Ministers, most of whom were out of the State capital for over five days a week, were not attending the weekly Cabinet meeting.
He said that if the punching system were to be introduced for Ministers, most of them would not be able to draw salaries. He rebutted the government stand that there was no need for a quorum for Cabinet meetings. The Cabinet was not an arts club. A quorum of eight members was must to hold a meeting. Congress leader V.M. Sudheeran termed the incident extraordinary. The event indicated a lack of coordination between the Chief Minister and his colleagues, he said.
