As Kerala row moves on to Assembly, why questions over 49 questions

What is the controversy?

The Opposition members had submitted notices for 49 starred questions meant for the Home Department, which comes under CM Vijayan. These questions were pertaining to ADGP M R Ajith Kumar’s meeting with RSS leaders, the disruption in the conduct of this year’s Thrissur Pooram festival ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, police probe into circulation of a WhatsApp screenshot with communal overtone during the Lok Sabha elections that targeted Vadakara’s LDF candidate K K Shailaja, allegation against the CM’s political secretary P Sasi, various charges against police including their alleged involvement in gold smuggling cases, and police probe into the missing of Kozhikode-based real estate dealer Muhammed Attoor, among other matters.

What are starred, unstarred questions?

A starred question is one to which a member desires an oral answer from the minister concerned or the Chief Minister on the floor of the House. The members can also ask supplementary questions following the answer to their starred questions.

In contrast, an unstarred question is one to which a written answer is desired by the member and is deemed to be laid on the table of the House by the minister concerned. It does not allow supplementary questions.

Why did the Opposition create an uproar?

The Opposition MLAs alleged that by shifting of their starred questions to the list of the unstarred ones, they were denied an opportunity to hear oral answers from the CM on various issues that they consider important.
The Congress leaders alleged that this was done “as part of a conspiracy involving the offices of the CM and the Speaker”, which amounted to, they added, denial of the Assembly members’ rights.

The Opposition camp cited precedents to say that when there was any confusion over the nature of questions earlier, the Assembly Secretariat would reach out to the member concerned or his Legislature Party’s office for clarifications. They pointed out that in this case even though 49 questions were moved from the starred list to the unstarred one, the Assembly Secretariat did not get in touch with the legislators concerned on any of the starred questions they submitted.

What did the Speaker rule?

Speaker Shamseer, however, justified the changes made by the Assembly Secretariat, saying that there was nothing “unusual” in turning starred questions into unstarred ones and that no “discrimination” has been shown towards the Opposition.

The Speaker claimed that the starred questions submitted were based on speculation and were only of local relevance. Hence, they were made unstarred, he said. On the admissibility of questions, he pointed out that he has powers conferred by the rules and procedures of the Assembly to admit or disallow a question without assigning any reasons.

Shamseer also said the Opposition violated the Assembly rule which says that the MLAs should not give any publicity for questions until they are admitted by the Speaker and circulated to the members.

The Kerala Assembly witnessed a massive uproar Monday when the Opposition Congress-led UDF MLAs protested against the conversion of 49 “starred” questions submitted by them into “unstarred” ones. The agitated Opposition members stormed into the well of the House and raised slogans against the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government as well as Assembly Speaker A N Shamseer.

Leader of Opposition (LoP) V D Satheesan alleged “conspiracy” involving the CMO (Chief Minister’s Office) and the Speaker’s office behind en bloc “downgrading” of starred questions to unstarred ones.