Headlines
UDF lawmakers outraged modesty of Left women MLAs: Achuthanandan
Thiruvananthapuram, March 23
Kerala's Leader
of Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan on Monday led a delegation of five
women legislators to Kerala Governor P. Sathasivam and complained that
legislators of the Congress-led UDF outraged their modesty on the floor
of the house on March 13.
Achuthanandan told reporters later that
it was most unfortunate that Chief Minister Oommen Chandy accused the
Left parties of having "used" the women legislators as a human shield
while protesting in the assembly on March 13, the day Finance Minister
K.M. Mani presented the state budget.
"Today, in the Congress the
voice that is being heard is of Priyanka Gandhi. Also last week, we saw
Sonia Gandhi leading a protest march from the front. Will the same word
'human shield' be used for them also," asked Achuthanandan.
Five
women legislators of the Left Front -- Jameela Prakasham, E.S. Bijimol,
Geetha Gopi, K.K. Lathika and K.S. Saleekha -- were in the forefront of
the protest in the house on March 13.
They later claimed that they were molested by treasury bench legislators in the melee.
While Bijimol filed a police complaint last week, the other four registered their complaints with the police on Monday.
"I
was touched with intent and I came under attack, and hence I gave a
written complaint to police," Prakasham said in front of the state
police headquarters on Monday.
Chandy, however, said it was
"strange" that in the complaint given by the opposition on the day the
alleged events occurred, there was no mention of any "harassment".
"We
have openly challenged them that there are over 100 cameras that have
taken visuals of the entire happenings. They are not seeing that and are
instead raising this issue," Chandy told reporters.