Dramatic scenes unfolded at the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation council’s meeting on Wednesday to present the Budget for 2024-25 with Mayor Arya Rajendran delivering stinging criticism against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government during her opening remarks, leading to a walkout by the Opposition BJP.
The Mayor began her introductory address, which lasted close to 45 minutes, by raising concerns over the challenges faced by Constitutional values including secularism in present day India.
She then went on to speak about the need for rulers to stay above religious concerns, the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The speech also had detailed references to the alleged financial embargo imposed by the Union government on Kerala, the trampling on federal values, the promotion of regressive, anti-scientific thought in education and a host of other issues. The criticism of the Union government was followed by praise for the State government’s record, despite the adversities, as well as that of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation in recent years.
The BJP councillors who rose up from their seats as soon she began the speech, staged a protest march around the council hall, raising slogans against the Mayor and the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF). The BJP leaders accused the Mayor and the LDF of politicising a meeting which was meant to present the Budget. The Opposition councillors who returned to the council hall after the march continued to raise slogans all through the Mayor’s speech.
Things did not cool down even when Deputy Mayor P.K.Raju rose to present the Budget. Before his speech, he lashed out at the BJP councillors, accusing them of being intolerant to even a mention about the Constitution, a picture of which occupies the cover page of the Budget document. The protest subsided only when he began his speech.
