Thiruvananthapuram: Getting carried away by one's own pompous disdain for others can be self-defeating. Ask Civil Supplies minister G R Anil.
The ruling benches kept egging him on as Anil gleefully made fun of the Opposition members for wanting to discuss price rise in the Assembly on Wednesday.
"I think they are accidentally reading out from a speech prepared many years before," was one of the minister's many jibes. "You should have come better prepared," was another.
The minister did not sound like he was disappointed with the Opposition but sounded more like a professor who relished teasing a weak student in front of others.
It was Muslim League MLA T V Ibrahim who moved the adjournment motion. His oration or research was nothing to crow about, and he mostly read out from a piece of paper. As if these were not enough, Ibrahim made some factual errors.
The minister pounced on them. "See didn't I tell you that they are reading out from some old speech," Anil said. The ruling side had a hearty laugh.
Then, with the aid of numbers, Anil went on to establish that Kerala had the most effective market intervention mechanism in the country. And in a tone that seemed to dismiss the Opposition as a group of dunderheads, Anil said inflation was a cock and bull story cooked up by Opposition leaders who had no clue what a kilogram of tomato costs in the market.
Either the minister was so sure of his argument or he did not anticipate the wattage of the counterattack that was about to be unleashed by Opposition Leader V D Satheesan, arguably one of the finest debaters Kerala Assembly has seen.
Satheesan mixed research with scorn and even the ruling members, who just a moment ago was seen guffawing at the minister's sarcasm just a moment ago, went silent.
"You said inflation in Kerala was lower than in other states. This has always been the case," Satheesan said. "This minister seems to suggest that Kerala's public distribution system, a model for India, was his contribution," he said.
Satheesan said two months ago the price of rice shot up to Rs 70 a kg from Rs 38. "We had sounded the warning then itself. We said a rise in the price of rice will cause a proportional increase in the price of 13 essential commodities and 50 per cent of this hike would be artificially created. This will then lead to a rise in the cost of vegetables. And in the fourth stage, the prices of all commodities will rise," Satheesan said. "We have now gone through all these four stages and what has the government done," he said.
Initially, when rice prices soared, the government promised to secure rice from Andhra Pradesh. " I am not aware of any rice coming from there," the Opposition Leader said.
He then gave a comparative list of prices of essential commodities, to show how the prices of items from rice to chilly had increased over the last two months. There was a 20 to 80 per cent increase in prices. "And you still say there is no inflation in Kerala," Satheesan asked.
Before he gave the comparison, he said: "We Opposition members know nothing and we don't eat tomatoes like others. Still, we are giving you our findings."
He said the monthly family budget of a lower-middle-class family had swelled by Rs 1,750 in the last two months, from Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,750. "When all this was happening, was the government there for the people," he said. "Intervention through Supplyco is not enough as less than 10 per cent depend on these outlets," he said.
Satheesan also alleged that the minister's failure to strike timely deals with mill owners had resulted in tonnes of paddy getting abandoned to the rains.
Satheesan did not allow the minister to throw in a word by way of response.
When a minister asks to intervene during a member's speech, he is usually allowed. But on Wednesday Satheesan seemed so outraged by the minister's earlier attitude that he refused to let him interrupt his speech. The minister sat down, helpless.
