Assembly session begins today

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JUNE 28. The budget session of the Assembly which is beginning tomorrow is likely to be marked by confrontation between the ruling front and the Opposition right from the beginning.

The session is being convened mainly for the presentation of the revised budget and the Governor's Address, both of which have become controversial issues by now.

The Opposition has already put the Government in the dock for not having the Governor's Address when the House was summoned for the swearing-in of the members and the election of the Speaker. The Chief Minister, Mr. A. K. Antony, has answered it by saying that the Government was only following the example set by its predecessor which had scheduled the Governor's Address on an even later date.

But the Opposition has given enough indications of its unwillingness to accept the argument. It will not miss the opportunity to place on record its protest at the delaying of the constitutional obligation. What remains to be seen is the form the protest will take. The session is getting underway with the Governor's Address which means that the confrontation too will start from day one.

The presentation of the revised budget is the other main item on the agenda. There are two irritants connected with it to the Opposition. One is the White Paper on the State's finances brought out by the Government and the other the financial proposals which the revised budget will contain.

The Opposition has serious reservations about the content and the release of the White Paper. It feels that the figures given in the White Paper are grossly exaggerated. It is cut up at the document not going into the reasons for the crisis. So, the Opposition has gone to the extent of dubbing it as a political document. It has announced its decision to come out with an alternative White Paper giving its reasons for the financial situation and its figures. It has also criticised the Government severely for releasing the White Paper before placing it in the Assembly.

The revised budget is likely to contain some harsh financial proposals. The Government has already given enough indications of it in order to prepare the people mentally for it.

The House is, therefore, likely to witness noisy scenes over these issues during the three-day general discussion on the revised budget, the discussion on the `vote on account' and that on the Appropriation Bill relating to it. The other issues which are likely to vitiate the atmosphere are the Kasaragod and Nadapuram incidents, the Government's decision to discontinue the DPEP and the move to wind up toddy cooperative societies.

The Government is banking on the UDF's brute majority and a no- nonsense Speaker. But the Opposition has aggressiveness to make up for its size.

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Section  : Southern States
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