Thiruvanthapuram: Opposition Leader in Kerala
assembly VS Achuthanandan on Thursday alleged that Speaker G
Karthikeyan helped the UDF government sail through during
voting on the Appropriation bill yesterday by allowing Finance
Minsiter K M Mani to continue his speech till he ensured that
the ruling Front had majority on the floor.
"If the voting was taken up immediately after the third
reading of the bill, only 62 UDF members were present in the
House. But the Speaker and the Finance Minister delayed the
proceedings," Achuthanandan told reporters here.
Stating that he had 'love and respect for Karthikeyan,
Achuthanandan said the Speaker's action was wrong. Despite the
Opposition pleading for poll three or four times, the Minister
was prolonging his speech though he had no fresh point to
make, he said.
He also alleged that a ruling member, after casting his
vote, had gone to another seat and pressed the buzzer for an
absentee yesterday.
Achuthanandan termed as 'white lie' the charge that his
daughter Asha, who had done research works at the Rajiv Gandhi
Centre for Biotechnology taking about Rs 35 lakh as grant, had
not produced any thesis.
The report, appeared in a daily, amounted to insulting a
reputed organisation, he said.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, July 21, 2011, 21:29