The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) opposition attempted to catch the ruling front in a pincer movement in the Assembly on Monday.
The UDF put a premium on livelihood issues, such as the power tariff hike impacting households, by moving an adjournment motion on the issue during the Zero Hour.
Simultaneously, the Opposition spotlighted CPI(M) legislator M. M. Mani's alleged misogynist remarks against RMP leader K. K. Rema, MLA, by holding placards damning the ruling front as anti-woman.
Congress legislator Anwar Sadat slammed the government for imposing a nearly 7% power tariff increase on consumers when it claimed the KSEB had reported a provisional working profit of ₹1,400 crores in the 2021-22 fiscal.
The LDF had heartlessly recommended a nearly 19% hike in electricity charge for domestic consumers.
However, the Kerala State Electricity Regulatory Commission had the good sense to reject the anti-people proposal and limit the increase to 6.6%.
Leader of Opposition V. D. Satheesan said the government had ousted the KSEB board chairperson, B. Ashok, to appease Left trade union leaders facing corruption charges.
He said that the government had lied about the KSEB's financial turnaround. It had not passed on the gains made by the KSEB to household consumers and instead chose to fleece them.
Electricity Minister K. Krishnankutty said the previous UDF government had increased electricity charges by 44%. In contrast, successive LDF governments have increased electricity charges only by 12.22%.
Moreover, the current increase did not impact farmers or the poor. The LDF had insulated low power-consuming households from the hike. The opposition walked out after the Speaker rejected the motion.
Later during the debate, Mr. Satheesan revived the anti-woman controversy in the House. He compared the treasury benches to the mythical Kaurava Sabha, which humiliated Draupadi.
Mr. Satheesan asked the Speaker to remove Mr. Mani's alleged comment that fate had visited widowhood on Ms. Rema from Assembly records. "Does the CPI(M) now believe in the inexorability of fate instead of Marxian principles of dialectical materialism?" he asked.
Outside the Assembly, Mahila Congress workers protested, carrying a poster depicting Mr. Mani as a chimpanzee. The organisation later apologised for the portrayal.
However, KPCC president K. Sudhakaran endorsed the depiction. He justified the banner by saying that Mr. Mani was a serial slanderer of women. "CPI leader Annie Raja is Mani's latest target", he said.
