Thiruvananthapuram: Tuesday’s question hour in the assembly witnessed an unprecedented barrage of questions from treasury benches targetting UDF leaders who have been charged with corruption. This led to a heated debate between the chief minister and opposition leader. Ramesh Chennithala termed it a premeditated attempt by ruling MLAs to target and insult opposition members.
This took up the entire hour. It all started with a question on steps the government took on allegations levelled by hotelier Biju Ramesh against Chennithala in connection with the bar bribery scam. As soon as the question was raised, opposition members led by K C Joseph raised objections and said it is against rules and procedures to raise corruption allegations against members of the House without evidence. However, speaker P Sreeramakrishnan said the questions were included after a verification process and discrepancies, if any, will be looked into.
The CM, who replied to allegations against the opposition leader, said the vigilance had carried out a confidential investigation and sanction for preliminary investigation is under consideration. However, the opposition leader has approached the governor seeking denial of permission for a probe, Vijayan said.
This provoked Chennithala, who termed the question a calculated ploy to cover up allegations against the government. “I have not indulged in any corruption. This is an attempt to insult me. I am ready to face any investigation,” he said. This led to an exchange of words between treasury benches and opposition members. When pandemonium persisted the CM intervened. “UDF leaders are worried that they were unable to substantiate a single allegation against the LDF government. The local-body election result was a slap in the face of UDF,” the CM said.
However, P T Thomas of the Congress countered with a question on the SNC-Lavalin case in which he alleged the chief minister continues to be an accused. BJP is helping Vijayan with the case in the apex court and that is why it has been postponed 19 times to date, he alleged. To this the CM said the lower court has acquitted him and now the case is before the Supreme Court. “I cannot be held responsible for Supreme Court postponing the case,’’ Vijayan said.
Corruption charges faced by UDF leaders in the solar and Palarivattom flyover scandals were also raised. The chief minister said members of the House including V S Sivakumar, V K Ebrahim Kunju, K M Shaji, P Unni and U Prathiba are facing vigilance inquiries in various cases. Cases have also been registered against P V Anwar, E S Bijimol and M C Kamaruddin.