By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : The Kerala assembly Friday passed a non-official resolution asking the central government to refrain from signing the civilian nuclear deal with the US.
The assembly witnessed chaotic scenes when Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) legislator V.N. Vasan got up to move the resolution. The entire opposition was already up in arms as their request for an adjournment motion against a hike in bus fares was rejected.
The non-official resolution was passed with 79 votes to none because the opposition members were busy shouting slogans near the speaker’s podium.
A non-official resolution is moved by a single member. It is passed by a majority of members and not officially by the government.
As soon as the resolution was passed, Speaker K. Radhakrishnan adjourned the house for the day.
Members of the treasury benches then marched to the main gate of the assembly, shouting slogans against the signing of the nuclear deal.
“The opposition created a ruckus in the house because they did not want to take part in the non-official resolution and instead they were adamant on creating trouble by coming out with an adjournment motion,” said senior CPI-M legislator P. Jayarajan.
But leader of opposition Oommen Chandy lashed out at the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, saying that they just wanted to avoid discussing the issue of a hike in bus fares.
“No other state in the country has increased the bus fare and the people of Kerala are already reeling under price rise. Very soon the electricity tariffs are also going to be hiked. The government is behaving in an irresponsible manner and they are diverting real issues concerning the people and bringing in trivial issues,” Chandy told reporters outside the assembly.
Transport Minister Mathew T. Thomas had Thursday announced that the minimum charge for ordinary buses would go up from Rs.3 to Rs.4 and the minimum fare in super express buses will be Rs.15. The increase in fares will come into effect midnight Friday. The speaker’s office told IANS that the non-official resolution would be forwarded to the central government Saturday.