Headlines
Verbal duel between Achutanandan and Mani in Kerala assembly
Thiruvananthapuram, March 10
The Kerala
assembly came alive on Tuesday as veteran communist leader V.S.
Achuthanandan and Finance Minister K.M. Mani clashed over what is called
the bar scam.
Before leading the entire opposition out of the
house over the Kerala government protecting Mani, who has been charged
by the vigilance department in the bar scam, Leader of Opposition V.S.
Achuthanandan quoted from the Bible that all "evil" characters will "go
to hell".
"Mani, you have been a corrupt person all through your
life and it's not just in the bar scam case that you have done this.
There's a saying in the Bible that all people of evil character will go
to hell and you will certainly go to hell," said Acuthanandan.
When
Achuthanandan was leading the entire opposition out of the house, Mani
hit back at him by saying: "Christians believe that there would be an
anti-Christ and you are that. You are the anti-Christ, as you play
second fiddle to the devil".
The budget session of the assembly
had begun on Friday with the governor's address, but the next day,
speaker G. Karthikeyan, who was being treated for liver cancer, passed
away.
On Monday the assembly paid homage to Karthikeyan and
wound up the day and Tuesday was the first day of real action in the
floor of the house.
It was former minister and senior CPI-M
leader S. Sarma who sought leave for an adjournment motion that Mani
should quit as he is an accused in the bar scam.
The Left
opposition has been up in arms ever since a whistleblower bar owner Biju
Ramesh revealed last year that Mani sought and took the first
instalment of a bribe to ensure that bars that had been closed down in
line with the new excise policy get the nod for reopening.
But Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said that the probe is going forward in the most transparent manner.
"The
Kerala High Court and the Lok Ayukta have already given a clean chit to
the ongoing vigilance probe which is the best certificate for it. We
have nothing to hide and that's why we the government decided to order
this probe against one of our cabinet colleagues," said Chennithala.