Kerala Assembly fracas: Oppn breaks Speaker's chair, damages equipment

State FM's budget speech ends in just six minutes, as violent Left accuses him of graft

The Kerala Assembly today witnessed unruly scenes as members of the Left Front Opposition broke the Speaker’s chair and damaged the electronic equipment.

Amid the ruckus, finance minister KM Mani presented the Budget from the rear portion of a highly-guarded treasury bench, and ended his speech in just six minutes.

Post the presentation, Mani was escorted by the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) and a huge battery of watch-and-ward staff.

Trouble had been brewing since Thursday afternoon when the Left Front legislators stayed back in the night to prevent Mani from entering the Assembly. The Opposition has been demanding Mani’s resignation on charges of allegedly taking Rs 1 crore bribe to reopen the closed bars in the state.

They also alleged Mani had received huge money from bakery and gold businessmen in return of undue favours to them in the Budget last year.

With the situation tense, chief minister, Mani and other ministers chose to remain in the Assembly cabin tonight.

Meanwhile, ahead of the scheduled 9 am start for the Assembly proceedings, a group of protesters stopped Speaker N Sakthan from taking his seat. As Mani began reading out the Budget, Opposition legislators, including six women MLAs, barged towards him. Their attempt to obstruct the proceedings, however, was thwarted by the security staff. In the midst of noisy and unruly scenes, Mani presented his 13th Budget. As a mark of jubilation, UDF MLAs distributed laddus inside the house.

Leader of Opposition VS Achuthanandan and chief minister Oommen Chandy witnessed the ruckus helplessly. Three Left opposition legislators were given preliminary first aid and six were admitted to hospital.

Outside the Assembly complex, youth wing supporters of CPI-M and BJP continued their protest. Angry party workers tried to break the barricade but they were chased away by the police using lathis and water canons.

Violent incidents outside Assembly

Hundreds of LDF and Yuva Morcha  activists had converged at the Assembly complex as part of a protest siege to stop check Mani from presenting the Budget.

Activists had started pouring in large numbers in the area since last evening. The police had to resort to tear gas shells, water jets to disperse the violent mob.

In the morning, Yuva Morcha workers attacked the police by pelting stones at them and the police had barricaded them and forced them to move back.

The LDF workers had set fire to three government vehicles, including police vans.