Sabarimala continues to rock Kerala Assembly

Thiruvananthapuram: For the third consecutive day the Congress-led opposition disrupted the Kerala Assembly over the Sabarimala issue forcing the Speaker to adjourn the House within 20 minutes after it met on Friday.

As soon as Speaker P. took his seat, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala demanded that either the Chair should suspend the question hour or allow an adjournment motion during the zero hour to discuss the "poor facilities" being provided in the temple town and end the prohibitory orders in place in Sabarimala.

"Yesterday the State Minister of Devasoms Kadakampally Surendran told the media that we (opposition) ran away.

"We are very much here, but you do not give us the time and the space to present our case. We demand that we be given time today," said Chennithala and blamed the Speaker of prejudice in his attitude towards the opposition.

Sreeramakrishnan then told the opposition that it was flouting all the accepted norms of the legislature and was behaving irresponsible.

"This issue has already been discussed for more than eight hours and there has been no new development at all. We will allow you to raise this issue as a submission," said the Speaker.

This led to sloganeering by the opposition near the Speaker's podium, forcing Sreeramakrishnan to rush through the day's business and adjourn the House till Monday.

The Kerala Police has clamped prohibitory orders at the temple town till Friday midnight following ongoing protests by Hindu groups and some political parties that began in there on September 28 when the Supreme Court allowed women of all ages to enter the temple that hitherto banned girls and women aged 10-50.