Day before budget, Kerala FM spends the night inside Assembly

mangaloretoday.com/ NDTV

Thiruvananthapuram, March 12:  Kerala Finance Minister KM Mani spends the night in one of the rooms of the state assembly. With him are about 70 of the 74 lawmakers of Kerala’s ruling United Democratic Front, including some ministers though, Chief Minister Oomen Chandy and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala have opted out.

They have taken the unusual step of locking themselves inside the assembly premises to pre-empt the Opposition, which had threatened to stop Mr Mani from entering the assembly today to present the Budget.

 

 

 
"In my long innings, I have seen numerous protests and this is just another one," Mr Mani, who has presented 12 state budgets, told reporters earlier on Thursday.

The CPI-M led Left Democratic Front or LDF has stepped up protests against Mr Mani since the Budget Session began, alleging that the Finance Minister accepted a bribe of Rs. 1 crore to renew licences of bars that were shut down by the administration.
 
Many LDF lawmakers are also inside the assembly complex and they too plan to spend the night there. They have warned of "dire consequences" if Mr Mani presents the budget at the scheduled time of 9 am on Friday.

The LDF and BJP youth wings plan to hold protests around the assembly complex.
 
The police, faced with a peculiar situation, is taking no chances and has a 2,500-strong force ready for any trouble today.

On Thursday, the BJP’s youth wing raised slogans on the streets of Thiruvananthapuram against the Finance Minister. Earlier in the week, Opposition parties, led by Leader of Opposition VS Achuthanandan, 91, staged a walk out in the assembly demanding Mr Mani’s resignation.

Mr Mani, who belongs to the Kerala Congress (M), is a key ally of Oommen Chandy’s Congress-led government.
 
The 81-year-old veteran, who has won every assembly election since 1965, has filed a Rs. 10 crore defamation suit against chief of the Kerala Hotels and Bar Association, Bijur Ramesh.
 
In December last year, Kerala’s Vigilance and Anti-Corruption bureau had booked Mr Mani as a first accused in the "bar scam case."