Opposition ruckus in Kerala Assembly; House adjourned

: The Opposition Congress-led UDF Tuesday created a ruckus in the Kerala Assembly over the Sabarimalaissue, prompting an abrupt adjournment of the House for the seventh day in row.

As in the previous days, opposition members began sloganeering since the beginning of question hour, demanding the intervention of the LDF government in ending the 'satyagraha' staged by three of their legislators at the portals of the House since last week.

They also demanded lifting of prohibitory orders invoked in and around the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa Temple by police.

Demanding the removal of curbs at the hill shrine, V S Sivakumar (Congress), Parakkal Abdullah (Indian Union Muslim League) and N Jayaraj (Kerala Congress-Mani) had launched the indefinite 'satyagraha' on December 3.

Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan initially ignored the ruckus even though the opposition legislators gathered in front of his podium and protested, waving banners and placards.

But as soon as minister A C Moideen completed his reply, he said the House proceedings could be taken forward in this manner and scrapped the question hour, rushed through other businesses and adjourned the House for the day.

The UDF legislators had been disrupting the House for the last seven days over the Sabarimala issue.

The indefinite fast by BJP leader C K Padmanabhan over the issue entered the second day Tuesday.

The hill shrine had been witnessing protests by devotees and right wing groups against the governments decision to implement the September 28 Supreme Court verdict, permitting women of all age groups to offer prayers at the temple.

Meanwhile the dawn-to-dusk hartal called by the BJP in Thiruvananthapuram district Tuesday in protest against the police action on the 'secretariat march' by party workers, remained incident free.

The BJP's "secretariat march" over the Sabarimala issue here Monday had turned violent, prompting police to use water cannon and tear gas to disperse the party workers.