Ruling LDF, opposition UDF in war of words in Kerala Assembly over drug menace
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): The Kerala Assembly on Friday witnessed a war of words between the ruling LDF and opposition UDF members over increasing drug abuse and connected violent incidents in the state, following which the House was adjourned for the day.
The ruling LDF members raised their voice and tried to disrupt the speech of Leader of Opposition in the Assembly V D Satheesan when he referred to the alleged involvement of some activists of SFI and DYFI in recent drug-related cases.
When the Congress-led UDF members also stood up from their seats and raised their voices, the House witnessed noisy scenes for some minutes.
Later, Speaker A N Shamseer declared the House as adjourned for the day after cutting short other scheduled businesses.
Earlier, Mathew Kuzhalnadan (Congress) raised the drug menace issue citing some recent incidents during zero hour and demanded a discussion after putting on hold other businesses.
Among various incidents, he pointed to the recent startling revelation by a high school girl that she was allegedly trapped by the drug mafia by giving biscuits laced with an addictive substance and later forced to become a carrier of contrabands in Azhiyoor in Kozhikode.
In his reply, the Local Self-Government Department (LSGD) Minister M B Rajesh admitted that the issues mentioned in the notice for the adjournment motion were serious. However, he rejected the charges that drug consumption is widespread in the southern state.
Quoting figures, the Minister said Kerala was not among the top five drug consuming states in the country.
Rajesh also assured the House that the drug mafia would be rooted out in the state and the government has already begun stringent measures in this regard. He criticised the opposition for allegedly giving a political colour to the serious issue.
The Speaker rejected leave for the motion based on the reply of the minister.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
