Kerala Assembly witnesses scuffle, noisy scenes; UDF demands Devaswom minister's resignation

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 8 (PTI) In a dramatic scene in Kerala Assembly on Wednesday, a scuffle broke out between the opposition UDF members and watch-and-ward personnel when the MLAs were seeking the resignation of the Devaswom minister.

The opposition MLAs also exchanged heated words with the ruling party members in the Well of the House.

The Congress-led UDF members have been disrupting the House proceedings since Monday, seeking the resignation of Devaswom minister V N Vasavan over alleged irregularities linked to the reduced weight of gold-plated coverings on 'Dwarapalaka' idols at the Sabarimala temple.

As the uproar continued, Speaker A N Shamseer cancelled the question hour midway.

The scuffle broke out when General Education Minister V Sivankutty was speaking during the question hour.

In his address, Sivankutty expressed strong displeasure over the opposition protest in front of the Speaker's podium and the raising of a banner, thus blocking him from seeing the members.

Suddenly, a scuffle broke out between the watch-and-ward personnel, who were standing around the Speaker's podium, and the UDF MLAs who were protesting at the Well of the House.

Minister Sivankutty could be heard saying that the opposition members hit the watch-and-ward staff.

Later, members of the treasury bench also rushed to the Well of the House and started engaging in a heated exchange of words with the opposition MLAs, following which the Speaker announced the temporary cancellation of the session.

Earlier, the UDF opposition announced in the Assembly that they would not cooperate with the House proceedings until the Devaswom minister resigns over alleged irregularities at the Sabarimala temple.

They also staged a protest in the Well of the House with placards and a banner raising slogans during the question hour for the third consecutive day.

As the session commenced, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan alleged that the Dwarapalaka idols of the Lord Ayyappa temple were taken away and sold outside.

"So, our decision is not to co-operate with the House proceedings until Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan resigns and members of the Travancore Devaswom Board are ousted," he said.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister M B Rajesh questioned the opposition's stand and sought to know why they were not showing "courage" to give a notice for discussion on the matter.

The Kerala High Court on Monday directed the formation of an SIT to investigate alleged irregularities related to the reduced weight of gold-clad copper plates of the guardian deity idols at Sabarimala. The weight reduction was revealed during the proceedings in court in connection with the claddings being again sent for gold-plating this year, but without informing the High Court.

During the proceedings, it was found that when the claddings were last taken out of the Lord Ayyappa shrine for gold-plating in 2019, there was a reduction in their weight by around 4.5 kg, which had not been reported by the Devaswom officials.

Last week, the court had ordered a comprehensive inventory of all valuables, including gold, at the Sabarimala temple under the supervision of retired Justice K T Sankaran. PTI LGK KH