Congress uses Sabarimala gold to tarnish Pinarayi. LDF says how same gold can enhance Sonia Gandhi's radiance

Right at the start of the Assembly proceedings on Wednesday, as has now become usual, Opposition leader V D Satheesan declared the UDF's resolve to continue with the agitation inside the House against what it termed the Sabarimala gold loot. If the UDF was determined to keep the Sabarimala fire burning, the government's side decided to fan the fire by throwing Sonia Gandhi into the mix.

It was a resentment expressed by the opposition leader that allowed the LDF ministers to pounce on the opposition leader in the name of Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. "The LDF members have made highly disagreeable comments against our beloved leaders Sonia and Priyanka Gandhi, and those have not been expunged from the Assembly records," Satheesan told the Speaker.

Excise and parliamentary affairs minister M B Rajesh was the first to counterattack. And then there was a jostle among ministers to cut the opposition leader to size.

"I just said that Priyanka Gandhi had tea with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the day the VB-G RAM G (Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission - Gramin) Bill was passed in Parliament. Which is more disagreeable, me speaking about this or Priyanka supping with the PM," Rajesh said. "If there is anything unparliamentary in what we have said, or even an inappropriate word, we are willing to subject ourselves to rebuke," the minister said. 

The baton was received by Law and Industries Minister P Rajeeve. He went straight for the jugular. "The Congress is purposefully exposing Sonia Gandhi to more ridicule," Rajeeve said. 

"The person who looted the gold (Unnikrishnan Potty) and the guy who bought the stolen gold (Bellary-based jeweller Govardhan) were snapped with Sonia Gandhi twice. Who took them to Sonia Gandhi? If Satheesan can answer this question, Sionia Gandhi will acquire the radiance of pure gold," the minister said.

In this game of political ping-pong, it was now Satheesan's turn to return. His remarks provoked both Rajesh and Rajeeve to be on their feet yet again. 

First, Satheesan took on Rajesh's charge that Priyanka had tea with the PM on the day VB-G RAM G Bill was passed. 

Satheesan: Having tea was his problem. But this minister had put out a Facebook post saying that he had great pride in his friendship with Anurag Thakur (BJP MP and former union minister), the man who called for the ethnic cleansing of a particular community during the Delhi riots. 

MB Rajesh: I had put up Facebook pictures of me with Rahul Gandhi, too. Or can I refuse to take a picture with the opposition leader saying he had bowed before the photograph of Golwalkar? What is my personal grudge against you? The criticism is political, not personal.

To somehow pull out Sonia Gandhi from the raging Sabarimala controversy was of greater urgency to Satheesan. 

Satheesan: Have you not seen the pictures of this man (Potty) with the Chief Minister. Did we condemn the CM?

P Rajeeve: All of us know about the CM's picture. We have seen videos of it, too. It happened in front of the Assembly, and it was taken as part of an ambulance donation programme. We can see Potty standing before the car, and the CM asking him to move. He then gets into the car. How can you compare this picture with the ones featuring Sonia Gandhi? Is it easy even for you (the opposition leader) to enter Sonia Gandhi's house? Leaders like Moopanar have left Congress because they could not get access to Sonia Gandhi. Shashi Tharoor and even K Karunakaran were unable to get an audience with Sonia Gandhi 

Interestingly, Rajesh and Rajeeve did not let their Sonia Gandhi references cross limits like their colleague, general education minister V Sivankutty. An impulsive Sivankutty had told the Assembly last week that Sonia Gandhi should be arrested and her house raided. Outside the Assembly, the opposition leader had poured burrowing scorn on Sivankutty by recalling his repulsive behaviour inside the Assembly during Budget Day in 2013.

On Wednesday, it sounded as if Sivankutty still had bad dreams about Satheesan's political assault. "In a Congress or UDF dharna, the Opposition Leader attacked me using words that would not be allowed in the Assembly," he said and, perhaps unmindful of the irony involved, added: "If we reveal certain things, many on the other side will have to run away with their 'mundu' pulled over their heads". 

Sivankutty's 'mundu-lifting' act inside the Assembly more than a decade ago is the sharpest political weapon the UDF wields whenever LDF members speak of decorum in the Assembly. 

After Sivankutty, finance minister K N Balagopal and revenue minister K Rajan also had their say. Satheesan did not respond to any of these, and after nearly half an hour of slogan shouting, shepherded his members out of the hall.

Speaker A N Shamseer continued with the business of the House in the Opposition's absence.