Suspended MLAs begin indefinite fast

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT. 30. As the standoff between the Government and the Opposition continued for the 12th day today, the three suspended MLAs, Mr. M. V. Jayarajan, Mr. P. S. Supal, and Mr. Raju Abraham, began an indefinite fast in front of the entrance of the Assembly hall demanding the withdrawal of their suspension.

The Opposition disrupted the proceedings within minutes of the start of the question hour when Mr. Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan stood up to pose a question to the Information Minister, Mr. M. M. Hassan, on the subject of the arrangements to bring home the bodies of those who die abroad.

The deputy leader of the CPI(M) Legislature Party, Mr. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, was on his feet immediately, but what he said was not audible as the Speaker, Mr. Vakkom B. Purushothaman, denied him the benefit of the desk microphone. As if on cue, the Opposition MLAs trooped into the well of the House and started raising slogans against the `strong-arm' tactics of the ruling front following which the Speaker adjourned the House for the day. The MLAs continued to shout slogans for more than 10 minutes and then trooped out to sit in dharna on the portico.

Addressing presspersons, Mr. Balakrishnan charged the Government with refusing to do a rethinking on the ``illegal suspension'' of the three MLAs despite the Opposition making it clear that it was ready for a reconciliation.

He said that though the MLAs had only been suspended, they were being denied their legitimate rights as though they had been dismissed from the House. They had been denied the right to vote in the polls for the Agricultural University and the Cochin University of Science and Technology. This was against the stated views of Shakder & Kaul specification that suspended MLAs enjoy every right other than the right to sit in Assembly committees.

He alleged that the ruling front was deliberately prolonging a resolution to the stalemate as it did not want the House to debate on the demands for grants for departments such as Excise and the Agricultural University. The debate on the Excise affairs would have brought the dissension in the ruling front to the fore, he said.

The Chief Minister, Mr. A.K. Antony, was adopting a `stubborn' attitude in the matter as he had come under personal attack in the issue relating to the Japanese-aided water supply project, Mr. Balakrishnan said. Mr. Antony was resentful as his clean image had been spoiled.

The Chief Minister's stand that the Speaker would call the Opposition for talks sometime before December 7 was unacceptable, Mr. Balakrishnan said. Mr. Antony was behaving not as the Chief Minister but as the leader of the Congress Party, he said.

The Government was making full use of the absence of the Opposition members from the House to hurriedly pass the demands for grants totalling crores of rupees, Mr. Balakrishnan said. The people of the State should not be taken for a ride in this manner and hence the decision to give a new turn to the ongoing agitation inside the House, he pointed out. Apart from Mr. Balakrishnan, the senior LDF leaders, including Mr. A. C. Shanmughadas, Mr. V. C. Kabeer, Mr. Neelalohithadasan Nadar and Mr. C. K. Nanu, were among the members who sat in dharna to express solidarity with the fasting MLAs. After about 15 minutes, the agitators shifted the satyagraha spot to the doorway of the Assembly hall.

The members raised slogans to the effect that the Opposition would not allow the House to be converted into the `KPCC office' and that no one would be allowed to take away the Opposition's legitimate rights.

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