Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Kannur keeps Assembly on the boil

Thiruvananthapuram: Kannur violence continued to haunt the Assembly during the general debate on the budget proposals for 2008-09, with the ruling and Opposition members pointing fingers at each other for the tense situation in the district.

The ruling front members alleged that the Congress and the UDF were supporting the RSS-BJP brand of violence with an eye on the Lok Sabha elections, while the Congress and other UDF members stoutly defended their positions, accusing the CPI(M) of taking political activity to barbaric levels.

Speakers from the ruling front also tried to corner the IUML over its failure to address issues facing the Muslim community.

They cited the Rs.10-crore budgetary allocation for implementing the Sachar and Paloli committee recommendations as proof of the Left Democratic Front’s concern for minority issues.

The debate started on Tuesday with Mankode Radhakrishnan of the Communist Party of India setting the ball rolling.

The most scathing attack on the Opposition came from C.K.P. Padmanabhan of the CPI(M) who alleged that Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy had staged his Kannur fast and Shanti Yatra to gain the support of the RSS-BJP as he was desperate for victories in a few Lok Sabha constituencies.

The Opposition fielded fewer debaters for the proceedings. K. Babu asserted that CPI(M) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan’s call to his supporters to take revenge for the political murders had no better name than barbarism.

He said the Congress and the UDF were against the brand of political violence practised by the BJP-RSS and the CPI(M). Indian National League member P.T.A. Rahim, CPI (M) member A.C. Moideen and RSP member A.A. Azeez did not spare the IUML.

They alleged that the IUML had failed to address the problems faced by the Muslim community.

IUML member P. Ummer accused the LDF government and the Finance Minister of retracting from the People’s Plan programme.

He said that local bodies had been left in the lurch because of the vacillating orders issued by the Local Administration Department.

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