Furore in House Over P C Georges Remark

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Question Hour in the Assembly witnessed uproarious scenes Thursday after Chief Whip P C George remarked that former minister N K Premachandran had Assistant Commissioner Radhakrishna Pillai canvassing votes for him during the last Assembly elections. The Opposition stormed the Well and disrupted the proceedings for a little over ten minutes. Deputy Opposition Leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan demanded to know whether George’s remark reflected the government’s opinion.  Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said he did not have the list of people who canvassed votes in all 140 constituencies during elections, and added that his own statement reflected the government’s stand.After this, Kodiyeri demanded that George withdraw his statement. Speaker G Karthikeyan said that he would rule on the issue after examining George’s remark. Not satisfied, the Opposition stormed the Well. George stood up and said that he had not intended to insult anyone, but the Opposition was not placated. Opposition members returned to their seats only after George withdrew his remark. More trouble was in store over intelligence reports that a section of Maldivian visitors were encouraging terrorism activities. UDF members objected to K T Jaleel’s demand for a probe into whether  this report was intended to stem tourism revenue from Maldives. A shouting match ensued after UDF members termed the question as nonsense.