LoP writes to Kerala Speaker as starred questions converted to unstarred

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 2 : Leader of Opposition (LoP), V.D. Satheesan, on Wednesday wrote to Kerala Assembly Speaker A.N. Shamseer over 49 starred questions by Congress-led Opposition members in the House being arbitrarily changed to unstarred questions.

Satheesan pointed out that attempts were being made to shield Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who has been caught in a bind over several allegations against him.

LoP Satheesan has requested the Speaker to intervene and resolve the issue at the earliest.

Starred questions are those which ministers or the Chief Minister of the state have to answer on the floor of the House, while unstarred questions need not be answered on the floor and their answers are provided to the members in a written format.

“All these questions pertain to recent issues which the Chief Minister has to reply on. These include the controversial meeting of the ADGP (law and order) M.R. Ajith Kumar with two RSS leaders; the fiasco which led to the famed Thrissur Pooram being disrupted; the allegations leveled against the Chief Minister’s Political Secretary and others,” said Satheesan.

“What has happened in the House is against the rules of procedure and conventions and hence strict action should be taken against those officials who did this,” added Satheesan.

The new session of the Kerala Assembly is scheduled to begin on Friday and it comes at a time when CM Vijayan is under tremendous duress due to various issues and the unrelenting assault by Left Independent legislator P.V. Anvar.

“The decision of the legislature secretariat is wrong as all those issues on which the questions are based are most recent and vital.

“Moreover, none of the members have been approached for clarifications on the questions that they have raised. Hence, the state government is duty bound to answer these questions on the floor of the House,” said Satheesan.