UDF walks out in Kerala Assembly over attack on RMP workers

Congress-led opposition UDF today staged a walkout in Kerala assembly over the alleged attack on Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) workers by CPI(M) cadres and charged that the law and order had collapsed in the state.
The UDF sought to raise the issue through an adjournment motion, saying the police instead of taking action against the perpetrators had filed 'false' cases against the victims, RMP activists.
However, with the Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan disallowing the motion after the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's reply rejecting the opposition's charge, the UDF members trooped out of the house.
Earlier, Vijayan said there was a deliberate campaign going on to defame Kerala by stating that law and order had collapsed in the state.

He said the opposition raised the matter as they did not have any other issues to take up.
The incident in Onchiam in Kozhikode district mentioned in the notice for the motion had happened one month ago and police had acted swiftly, he added.

"The situation in the area is now under control and peace prevails," he said charging that the real motive for taking up the matter now was political.
The RMP was founded by T P Chandrasekharan, a former CPI(M) rebel. He was brutally hacked to death in 2012 by a gang allegedly at the behest of CPI(M).

The Chief Minister also said there was an attempt to show Kerala in bad light at the national level.
He referred to a dharna staged by K K Rema, RMP leader and widow of Chandrasekharan, in front of AKG Bhavan in Delhi recently, to protest against the attack allegedly by CPI(M) cadres.
He claimed that RMP was getting weaker day by day with its workers returning to the CPI(M) fold and there was tension in the area due to this new development.
Slamming the government on the issue, Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala said they brought up the matter in the house as the police had not registered a single case on attacks on RMP workers that took place early last month.

The Congress leader also said frequent attacks on RMP cadres clearly showed that the anger of CPI(M) towards Chandrasekharan had not ended even after his death.
Moving the notice for the motion, Parrakkal Abudulla (IUML) alleged that people in Onchiam and nearby areas were afraid to come out of their homes due to the tense situation and blamed the CPI(M) workers for it.
Earlier, the House witnessed noisy scenes, leading to adjournment for a while.