THIRUVANANHAPURAM:
Amid the coronavirus scare across the country, the 19th session of the Kerala Assembly has been curtailed and will end on Friday after finishing the listed business.
The opposition Congress later flayed the decision. The coastal state is on high alert on account of the coronavirus cases reported in the country, with 16 positive cases reported in the southern state. According to latest state government figures, over 5,000 people are under observation at their homes and in hospitals across the state.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan mooted on Thursday that it would be appropriate if the business advisory committee of the Assembly decided to end the session. Before the session started on Friday morning, the committee met and decided to end the session after dealing with the listed business for the day.
The session began on March 2 and was originally slated to end on April 8 after holding 27 sittings. It began with a discussion on the Budget and vote on account. Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, after walking out of the Assembly in protest, told the media that Friday will go down as a ”black day” in the history of parliamentary democracy due to curtailment of the session in haste.
“This is an autocratic way of handling things and is not acceptable. Incidentally, this happened on a day wherein five years ago the then opposition members had not allowed then Finance Minister to even present the Budget and the Speaker”s chair was thrown from the dais,” said the former Minister.
