LDF turns up heat on K Babu

Thiruvananthapura: The Assembly witnessed uproar on Tuesday with Opposition members demanding excise minister K. Babu’s resignation over the bar bribery allegations.

They entered the floor with placards and banners during the Question Hour and started shouting slogans. The trouble began when members of the treasury benches made some “defamatory” comments.

Speaker N. Sakthan said the remarks were removed from the records. Later, it was known that a statement made by K. Sivadasan Nair of the Congress provoked them.

The speaker requested the Opposition to cooperate with the proceedings. They returned to their seats after his assurance that such remarks will not be there in the records. As a result, the Question Hour was delayed by 10 minutes.

Later, while replying to a submission, home minister Ramesh Chennithala said there was no evidence against Mr Babu.

He also apprised the Assembly of a detailed investigation carried out against him on the allegation.  He said nobody had given any statement against him.

There was also contradictions in the statements given against Mr Babu. He said the CD the Bar Hotel Association ‘working president’ Biju Ramesh, the complainant in the case, provided was manipulated.

“Hence it could not be accepted as evidence,” he said. The opposition members who were not satisfied with the reply shouted slogans demanding the resignation of the minister before walking out.

 

 

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