A new low for state legislators.
AB Wire
NEW DELHI: A Kerala Congress legislator, K Sivadasan Nair, alleged he was bitten by Jameela Prakasham, a female legislator of the Left during an unruly brawl at the Kerala state assembly, on Friday.
“I was standing beside Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, trying to protect him, when this happened,” said Congress legislator K. Sivadasan Nair to the Hindustan Times while showing the alleged bite mark.
During a fracas in which lawmakers reached embarrassing levels of pandemonium, Left legislators threw out the speaker’s chair and vandalized his computer and other electronic equipment.
Despite the efforts of his opponents, Finance Minister K.M. Mani managed to present his 13th state budget.
Left legislators have accused K.M. Mani of accepting bribes to the tune of 1 crore to reopen closed bars in the state and are demanding his resignation.
Meanwhile, the Opposition LDF has called for a statewide protest against the attack on legislators and workers.
“It is an attack on democracy. Even women legislators were not spared. We can’t be a mute spectator anymore,†said LDF convener Vaikkom Viswan adding the opposition would step up protest against Finance Minister K M Mani in coming days.
The coalition would also meet Governor Justice Sathasivam in this regard, he said.
The ingredients for a disastrous meetings were sown on Thursday night legislators from the Left stayed behind in the assembly for the entire night in an effort to restrict Mani’s access to the proceedings. Their plan to barricade him out failed, however, which led to the scenes of chaos that followed shortly afterward.