Thiruvanthapuram, July 26: 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