TRIVANDRUM, 13 November — A bitter opposition-ruling alliance row in the Kerala Assembly, which crippled legislative work for 25 days in this southern state, ended yesterday with the speaker revoking the suspension of three members.
Speaker V. Purushothaman had suspended Raju Abraham, M.V. Jayarajan and P.S. Supal belonging to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) opposition on Oct. 18 after they manhandled Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar during house proceedings.
He revoked the suspension after leader of opposition V.S. Achuthanandan expressed regret over the unruly incident.
The opposition had initially disturbed the proceedings and then scaled up its protest with the three suspended MLAs beginning an indefinite fast at the entrance of the Assembly hall Oct. 30.
On Oct. 31, the speaker went through all the listed business of the house and adjourned the house till Nov. 11.
Both the Congress party-led ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) and the opposition came in for heavy criticism in the local press for their unbending attitude. Reports here indicate the crisis blew over with the intervention of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader and Industries Minister P.K. Kunjalikutty.
Chief Minister A.K. Antony had told the opposition several times that the suspension issue could be sorted out if it first stopped disrupting the assembly.
The opposition yesterday gave signs of relenting when it decided to cooperate with the house by asking questions during question hour. Immediately after question hour and following a reference to the tragic incident at Amboori, where 40 people died in a landslide, Achuthanandan said the opposition was prepared to cooperate with the government and the speaker to resolve the impasse. He, however, noted that the suspension of the members was a harsh step for minor scuffles often took place in the assembly. After Antony also said he was keen to see the end of the stalemate, the speaker called a meeting of all party leaders wherein it was decided to revoke the suspension.
When the house met, Achuthanandan got up and expressed regret about the Oct. 18 episode and promised the opposition’s cooperation to prevent any repetition of the incident. The speaker then announced the revocation of suspensions of the three MLAs. A few colleagues then escorted the three suspended members to their seats amidst thumping of desks.
