Kerala assembly disrupted over Vijayan's Shiv Sena remarks

The Kerala assembly was disrupted on Friday with the opposition demanding Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan withdraw his statement on Shiv Sena activists accusing them of being hired by the Congress to thrash people.

"Vijayan should withdraw his statement and if not, the speaker should ensure that the remarks should be removed from assembly records," Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said.

On Wednesday, at least six Shiv Sainiks on the seafront in Kochi, went on a rampage, chased and attacked couples in full media glare even as police allegedly turned a blind eye to the whole episode.

But Vijayan was in no mood to withdraw his statement. He asked the opposition why were they are so intolerant whenever he spoke about the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or Shiv Sena.

Chennithala pointed out that never in the history of the assembly has any Chief Minister stepped into the well of the house.

In response, Vijayan said: "You (speaker) have seen what happened and this statement from the opposition is nothing but blatant lies."

With this the entire opposition boycotted the day's session and Chennithala after leading the opposition out of the house told the media that Speaker P.Sreeramakrishnan was behaving in a partisan manner.

--IANS

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