Power of three: BJP members throw Kerala Assembly into brief disarray

The first business day of the 16th Kerala Assembly on Tuesday gave a taste of how the BJP presence in the House could precipitate chaos.

The setting was the first adjournment motion moved by the opposition LDF. The subject was the severe inflationary pressures caused by the repeated increases in the prices of fuel and LPG, and the crisis it has set off, particularly in the hotel industry. The motion was moved by former finance minister K N Balagopal.

Chief Minister V D Satheesan said that the government would take strong and necessary steps to rein in the prices and told Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan that there was no need to suspend the proceedings of the House to discuss the issue. The Speaker dismissed the motion.

It was opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan's walkout speech that seemed to have provoked BJP legislature party leader B B Gopakumar to make an urgent and out-of-turn intervention. Pinarayi said that India had stopped the import of oil from Venezuela and Russia because it was against the interests of American President Donald Trump. He said that the Centre surrendered to the diktats of Trump.

Right after Pinarayi's speech, and as he was staging a walkout with the CPM MLAs, Gopakumar got up and started speaking. CPI legislature party leader K Rajan, who sat beside Gopakumar, was taken aback as it was his turn to make the walkout speech. "The member is acting out of sheer ignorance," Rajan was heard complaining to the Speaker.

Thiruvanchoor patiently told Gopakumar that he was not entitled to speak at this moment because he was not a signatory to the adjournment motion. Gopakumar reluctantly sat down and let Rajan speak.

But soon after Rajan concluded and began walking out with the CPI members, Gopakumar got up again and started speaking from a prepared note. The Speaker did not dissuade him this time, though there was one more walkout speech to be made, that of Rashtriya Janatha Party's P K Praveen.

Gopakumar prefaced his dissent by saying that the Narendra Modi government had never discriminated against Kerala. By then, the CPM and CPI MLAs had left the hall.

The Speaker interrupted Gopakumar for a moment and repeated that if rules were adhered to strictly, he could not be allowed to speak, but since he had already begun, he could quickly make his point and let the house business proceed as per norms.

When the UDF members also raised objections, Thiruvanchoor asked them to be considerate as Gopakumar was a first-time member and that he was not yet familiar with the rules. "I don't want to attract the charge that I had cut short a first-time MLA mid-speech," the Speaker said. He also promised the UDF members that this would not be a precedent.

Gopakumar soon came to the point he was eager to make. "We just heard the Opposition Leader saying that the Prime Minister was afraid of Trump. Let me make one thing clear, the Prime Minister is not like the Opposition Leader who fears the ED," Gopakumar said. In no time, the entire CPM members came rushing back into the House shouting angrily, drowning out Gopakumar's words. Pinarayi, too, strolled in. The Speaker sounded defensive. "It is his maiden speech. He will limit it," he said.

Gopakumar continued his offensive amid the noise. Now the Speaker told him that he would get the chance to make all these arguments during the debate on the Governor's Address later in the day.

The angry voices grew, and Gopakumar had to sit down. The Speaker even sounded apologetic. "I know I have deviated from the norm, but that was because it involved a new member who is just about learning the ropes," the Speaker said.

Before the third walkout speech could resume, Pinarayi stood up. He sounded amused. "I know it is your large-heartedness that has led to this situation. But was it not a major deviation from our tradition," Pinarayi said. "Shouldn't I be a bit large-hearted, dear Opposition Leader? Should we place ourselves as the enemy so early," the Speaker said. Pinarayi let the issue rest when the Speaker assured him that this would not be a precedent.

The BJP was not ready to leave it at that. After Praveen's walkout speech, former union minister V Muraleedharan wanted references to Modi expunged under Rule 307 of Assembly Rules and Procedure.

The Speaker had a tough time convincing Muraleedharan that there was no provision to delete remarks made in a walkout speech and that Rule 307 was for expunging remarks made during Assembly debates.