Kerala Speaker rejects UDF notice on parole for CPM convicts in case

Kerala Speaker A N Shamseer rejected a UDF notice on alleged parole irregularities for CPM convicts. Meanwhile, Congress' Shashi Tharoor slammed the LDF government's fiscal policies, calling for a change and pitching the UDF as an alternative.

Speaker Rejects UDF's Adjournment Notice

The Kerala Assembly speaker, A N Shamseer, has rejected the adjournment notice submitted by United Democratic Front (UDF) MLA K.K. Rama, stating that the issue does not have urgent public importance. Rama submitted a notice in the Assembly on Monday seeking leave to move an adjournment motion under Rule 50, calling for a discussion by suspending House proceedings.

The Speaker stated that if required, MLA KK Rama could raise the matter as a submission. The notice raised concerns over alleged irregularities in granting parole to CPM convicts involved in the Payyannur steel bomb attack case, in which they were sentenced to 20 years. It also referred to findings that police officials allegedly accepted bribes to grant parole to accused in political murder cases, creating widespread public anxiety over the state's law-and-order situation.

Shashi Tharoor Calls for Change of Government

Meanwhile, earlier on Sunday, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor asserted that a change of government in Kerala is "absolutely indispensable", sharply criticising the CPI(M)-led LDF government's economic management and expressing confidence that the Congress-led UDF can offer a credible alternative ahead of the Assembly elections.

Criticism of LDF's Economic Management

Speaking to ANI, Tharoor said, "I think it's absolutely indispensable that there should be a change of government. The Left has been ruling for 10 years now, and they just proposed a budget a couple of days ago, which was completely based on funds they don't have, and funds that the Centre is not willing to give them." He said Kerala voters are "being squeezed between an unsupportive Centre and fiscal irresponsibility at the state level."

"So, between a Centre that is indifferent to Kerala and the state that is committing fiscal profligacy, clearly, the innocent Kerala voter is caught in a trap," Tharoor said. Criticising the current development trajectory, he remarked, "The Kerala growth model has been replaced by the Kerala debt model."

UDF Pitched as Credible Alternative

Emphasising the need for a new approach, Tharoor said, "We need to find new sources of revenue through the ease of doing business. We have to have a new vision for Kerala." Pitching the Congress-led UDF as the alternative, he said, "Honestly, the UDF, led by the Congress, is the only option that would provide a new approach to governance and that would actually give new ideas to the state."

Expressing optimism, Tharoor added, "This time, I think we will do very much better, and we will perhaps reverse the tables too. Our aspiration is to get to 100-plus seats. There is a lot of anti-incumbency. Don't have any doubts about that. People have seen the worst of the misrule of the CPM-led LDF government in the course of the last 10 years." (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)