Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has cancelled the Assembly session it had scheduled for July 27 in view of the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram and nearby areas.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting held here on Thursday. The government will inform the Governor that the earlier recommendation to convene the legislature Assembly be dropped.
This is for the first time that a meeting of the House would get adjourned after a date has been finalised.

The government has also taken into consideration the fact that there are 40 MLAs who are above 65 in the current Assembly.

The government had issued summons to all the legislators on July 10 to be present for the Assembly session.

The Opposition Congress-led UDF, which was all set to present a no-confidence motion against the government is, however, not happy with the decision. It has alleged that the government is using COVID as an excuse to avoid facing the no-confidence motion.

According to the Opposition, the government is shying away from holding the session knowing that the CPI and other LDF partners will not support it in the motion.

Senior Congress MLA K C Joseph said the session was avoided as the government was afraid to face the no-confidence motion. “The government's apprehension that no ally of the LDF other than CPM would be ready to defend the government over the gold smuggling scandal and the difficulty to shield the chief minister's office against the allegations of its role in the crime have forced it to avoid the session,” he said.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala claimed that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had got in touch with him to discuss cancelling the session called to pass the Finance Bill.

The government can cancel it only after taking the Opposition into confidence.

Chennithala said the opposition did not agree with the request. It is for the government to decide what needs to be done next, he said. The Assembly has to be convened by September 12 irrespective of how many times the government reschedules it. The Assembly has to convene every six months, Chennithala pointed out.

The Opposition said it would attend the all-party meeting to discuss the spread of COVID.

The ruling alliance is of the opinion that it would be dangerous for the Assembly to convene when most parts of the state, including the capital city, is in the midst of the COVID outbreak.

Of the 140 members in the Assembly, 47 are aged over 65 years and many others are close to 65. There are still others who could come from areas that have reported widespread coronavirus infection. Also, there is no provision for fresh outside air to flow into the Assembly. If 140 people get together, there is a threat of contracting COVID-19 through contact, the ruling front feels.

The Opposition, however, argues that it is the government that had decided to hold the session amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

Exceptional circumstance?

With the Assembly session being cancelled, the state government will issue an Ordinance to pass the Finance Bill.

The main purpose of convening the session on July 27 was to pass the Bill, whose validity ends on July 29.

If a Finance Bill for a financial year is introduced in the House before the beginning of the year, then it has a validity for a period of 120 days from April 1, the first day of the financial year. The 120-day period for the bill for the current financial year, which was passed before April, gets over on July 29.

In exceptional circumstances, the government can extend the validity to 150 to 180 days by issuing an Ordinance.

All-party meet on Friday

An all-party meeting under the Chief Minister will be convened on Friday to discuss the measures taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Many places in the state, especially the coastal areas in Thiruvananthapuram, are in the grip of community spread of the disease.

The government had drawn criticism for not convening an all-party meeting despite community spread of the disease being confirmed in the state.

People have been complaining that COVID tests are not being expanded to cover a larger population. Many areas, including the capital city, have been closed for the past three weeks due to the lockdown to control the community spread of the virus infection.

There are also complaints that the government is not taking steps to help businesses and the general public to overcome the financial crisis caused by the strict lockdown.