The scientific temper versus faith controversy swirling around Speaker A.N. Shamseer’s office appears to loom large over the ninth session of the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly that commences here on Monday.
However, the issue is unlikely to resonate strongly in the Assembly in a strident manner. The Nair Service Society (NSS)‘s decision to abandon public protests against Mr. Shamseer appears to be a breather for the government and Opposition. Both had braced themselves to bitterly battle out the controversy in the Assembly.
Nevertheless, the UDF could aggressively press the government to withdraw cases against NSS workers who held a prayer procession and dwell on the alleged ‘impropriety’ of the CPI(M)‘s ‘scornful’ stance on the heated debate.
The Assembly will commence solemnly, mourning the passing of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and late Speaker Vakkom Purushothaman. However, the sombre occasion might be the calm before the storm.
The Opposition seemed poised to raise the stakes in the impending battle for the Puthuppally Assembly constituency. The UDF aspires to put the government in the dock for ‘failing’ to mitigate food inflation ahead of Onam, the ‘crisis’ in Plus One admissions, ‘flawed’ tax administration, potholed roads, ‘stasis’ in civic works, ‘zero’ debt relief to beleaguered farmers and corruption in executing mega infrastructure projects.
The Opposition would attempt to paint the government as authoritarian, given the cases against Opposition leaders and independent media. The UDF has accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of leading an ivory tower existence by scaling down media interaction and upping his security to an ‘outsize’ proportion. The police custodial death in Thanur could also come in handy for the UDF.
The government believes the session would allow it to lay its case against the Opposition forcefully and highlight LDF’s administrative and social welfare ‘achievements’.
Politics would dominate the debates. LDF would berate the UDF for toeing a ‘soft-Hindutva’ line, terming it a pale imitation of Sangh Parivar’s Hindu majoritarian nationalism.
It would project itself as the sole secular bulwark against the BJP’s trespasses on minorities to cut the ground under the UDF’s feet in their competing quest for minority votes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
