Thiruvananthapuram, With the Keralam Assembly facing a mountain of legislative business on the concluding day on Thursday, the clock was ticking not just for the House but also for members hoping to return to their constituencies.
With so much business remaining, Speaker Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan suggested a way to save time. With the session drawing to a close, many wanted to leave for their constituencies. The proposal was to allow members to raise their submissions without reading them out in full and have the ministers’ replies tabled instead.
There were 39 submissions to be dealt with and 1,811 amendments to the Saral Bill.
The Speaker said several members had told him personally that they had already booked tickets.
Chief Minister V D Satheesan supported the suggestion, recalling that the Assembly had followed a similar procedure on earlier occasions.
Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan agreed, saying that the House had a precedent for such an arrangement. There was no fixed rule that it must end at 3 pm, 4 pm, 8 pm or midnight, he said, recalling earlier occasions when the Assembly had sat until 5 am.
The Speaker, who described Sudhakaran as a senior colleague, said the House would conclude when its agenda was completed. His point, the Chief Minister said, was that there should be no insistence on a fixed closing time.
