Kerala Legislative Assembly Speaker N Shakthan registered his protest over Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala’s ‘dosa’ jibe by refusing to preside over the Assembly proceedings on Wednesday morning.
On Tuesday, the Speaker had asked MLA NA Nellikkunnu to cut short his speech while discussing the Expatriate Keralites Welfare (Amendment) Bill.
This however did not seem to go down well with the Home Minister, who retorted that bills in the Assembly could not be passed at the rate at which ‘dosas’ were made.
The Speaker reportedly took umbrage at this, saying that he was expediting the Assembly proceedings not for himself but for Chennithala, so that he could meet the Prime Minister who was then expected to arrive in Thiruvananthapuram.
To this, Chennithala opined in that case, discussion on the said bill should be deferred to another day. He added that as the Protector of the House, the Speaker should not behave in such a manner.
The Speaker subsequently allowed Nellikkunnu to continue speaking while he himself remained silent throughout the remaining proceedings of the Assembly.
So, though the Speaker attended office on Wednesday, the House is now being officiated by Deputy Speaker Palode Ravi. The Speaker was missing from the House for more than 4 hours before he came back and took his Chair.
The Home Minister’s Office has issued a statement that there was no deliberate intention to insult the Speaker and that Chennithala was not aware of the fact that the House would be dismissed early in view of the Prime Minister’s visit.