T’puram: Phase I of the ongoing assembly session ended on a dramatic note on Thursday, with proceedings repeatedly disrupted over Sabarimala gold theft cases, opposition protests and disputes over aided school appointments. As the House adjourned for the day, both ruling front and opposition raised slogans and staged demonstrations, turning the assembly premises into a theatre of confrontation.Speaker A N Shamseer cancelled question hour and the motions scheduled for the day after the chaos intensified. Other listed business, including the appropriation bill, was passed amid opposition’s sloganeering. The current phase of the assembly session thus formally concluded with the House scheduled to reconvene on Feb 23.
While UDF members protested inside with placards and banners, LDF MLAs staged an unusual counter-protest. As soon as the speaker adjourned the session, LDF members rose together, shouted slogans and marched out in a show of strength. They accused the opposition of making baseless allegations over Sabarimala gold heist cases and dismissed their protests inside the House as mere theatrics. Earlier in the day, disruptions peaked soon after the assembly began. Opposition members advanced to the front of the speaker’s dais, raised slogans and blocked the smooth conduct of business. Slogans demanding the govt’s resignation and alleging that those responsible for stealing ‘Ayyappa’s gold’ had received bail echoed in the chamber.Opposition members began protesting even before the proceedings started, assembling at the gates and staging a demonstration. Unlike the usual practice of taking their seats quietly, they entered the assembly as part of a protest march, raising slogans from the entrance of the chamber, a rare act in the assembly’s history. Opposition members then sat on the floor of the well of the House, shouting slogans. After leaving the House, opposition members continued their protest at the assembly entrance. For a brief period, the assembly complex became the scene of simultaneous demonstrations by both sides.
