Opposition walks out of Kerala assembly after Speaker denies motion on missing Sabarimala gold

Thiruvananthapuram | The Congress-led opposition staged a walkout from the Kerala assembly on Friday after Speaker A N Shamseer denied them permission to move an adjournment motion to discuss the alleged disappearance of over 4 kg of gold from Sabarimala.

The Speaker denied permission to the motion, saying that according to the rules of procedure of the House, a matter or issue which is sub-judice -- pending before the court -- cannot be discussed in the assembly.

Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan said that there was precedence of sub-judice issues being discussed in the House, to which the Speaker said, "Precedence cannot supersede rules, and someone has to bell the cat. I am belling the cat now." Satheesan further said that the issue raised by the opposition was a serious one, as the High Court has ordered a probe into the matter.

He also said that Ayyappa devotees are disappointed over the issue of over 4 kgs of gold going missing from Sabarimala.

"Since permission has been denied to discuss such a serious issue in the House, we are walking out in protest," the opposition leader said.

As the opposition walked, ministers of the ruling front -- M B Rajesh and P Rajeev -- alleged that the motion was part of the UDF efforts, in collusion with the RSS, to stop the Global Ayyappa Sangamam from taking place on September 20.

They further alleged that after all the efforts, including approaching the courts, to subvert the conclave failed, the opposition adopted a new tactic by trying to raise the missing gold issue.

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday took serious note of the reduction in weight of the gold-cladded copper plates of the 'Dwarapalaka' (guardian deity) idols in front of the Sabarimala sanctum sanctorum when they were last removed in 2019 and had ordered a vigilance probe into the matter.

The court had said that there was "a glaring and unexplained reduction of 4.541 kg" in weight of cladding when it arrived for gold-plating as compared to the weight recorded at Sannidhanam when they were removed from the idols.