Opposition stalls Assembly proceedings

Thiruvananthapuram, July 6 (UNI) The Kerala Assembly was adjourned for the day much ahead of schedule as a determined opposition stalled the proceedings of the House on the contradictory statements made by Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan and Revenue Minister K P Rajendran on the anti-encroachment drive against the Tata Tea Company in Munnar.

Seeking leave for an adjourment motion on the issue, Mr G Karthikeyan (Cong) alleged that the government had lost collective responsibility when Mr Rajendran disputed the statement of Mr Achuthanandan that 1,280 acres of land illegally held by the Tata had been evicted by the Special Task Force (STF) in his presence.

He said Mr Rajendran had told the House yesterday that the land claimed to have retrieved in the presence of the Chief Minister was actually under the possession of the Forest Department. This showed that the seized land was not the land that Tata held illegally, Mr Karthikeyan said, further he asked the Chief Minister to explain which was the land he had seized in Munnar.

Mr Karthikeyan said that a government which had lost collective responsibility had no right to continue.

Replying to the notice for the motion, Mr Achuthanandan said there was no dispute between him and Mr Rajendran on the issue and the land retrieved was under the illegal possession of the Tata.

He said it was his governmnet which took bold initiatives to retrieve the land illegally held by the Tata and alleged that the opposition was trying to sabotage the eviction process to help the Tata.

Leader of the opposition Oommen Chandy said the High Court had stayed eviction of land held by the Tata till July 12 and hence no official would dare to initiate eviction proceedings against the company.

Mr chandy said that Under these circumstances, the Chief Minister should explain as to which land he had seized in Munnar, and demanded a reply from him.

As members from the Treasury benches began to obstruct Mr Chandy from speaking opposition members moved to the well of the House shouting slogans.

As repeated requests by Speaker K Radhakrishnan for order went unheeded, he adjourned the House for the day ahead of schedule.

UNI