Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 29 (IANS) State Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal on Thursday presented his sixth consecutive budget of the LDF government in the Kerala Assembly, opting for a full budget despite Assembly elections being scheduled later this year, when conventionally a vote-on-account is presented.The final budget of the second-term Pinarayi Vijayan government places strong emphasis on social security, healthcare, education and inclusive welfare measures, with a series of announcements aim…
Latest Kerala Assembly News & Updates
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 29 (IANS) State Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal on Thursday presented the sixth consecutive Budget of the LDF government in the Kerala Assembly, placing strong emphasis on welfare spending, infrastructure development and resistance to what he described as sustained fiscal neglect by the Centre.The Vijayan government has gone ahead with a full budget even as the Assembly elections are scheduled this year, and as per the convention, a vote-on-account budget is presented.Ope…
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 28 (IANS) Leader of the Opposition in Kerala Assembly, V.D. Satheesan, on Wednesday demanded the immediate withdrawal of notices issued to nearly 18 lakh voters asking them to appear for hearings under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, warning that the process was causing widespread public distress.Addressing a press conference at the Assembly media room, Satheesan said people were being harassed in the name of “logical discrepancy” for …
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 28 (IANS) Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday strongly rejected the Opposition’s charge that Kerala’s public healthcare system was in decline. Speaking in the Assembly, he said that the State continued to be a national model in the health sector.Replying to an adjournment motion moved by the Congress-led UDF seeking a discussion on what it described as an alarming health crisis, Vijayan said the criticism ignored the structural improvements and investments ma…
Kochi, Jan 27 (IANS) The Kerala High Court on Tuesday came down heavily on the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala gold theft cases, expressing serious concern over the delays in filing charge sheets that have enabled key accused to walk free on statutory bail.So far, 13 people have so far been arrested in the two charge sheets filed by the SIT, and one person has now secured statutory bail.A bench of Justice A. Badaruddin warned that such lapses erode public confidence in th…
Thiruvananthapuram Jan 27 (IANS) Kerala Assembly Speaker A.N. Shamseer on Tuesday expressed strong displeasure over what he described as improper conduct by the office of Governor Rajendra Arlekar, triggering a fresh flashpoint in the long-running standoff between Lok Bhavan and the elected government.Speaking to the media, Shamseer disclosed that he had received a letter from the Governor’s office marked “highly confidential”, prompting him to personally oversee its opening — a departure fr…
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 24 (IANS) Leader of the Opposition in Kerala Assembly V.D. Satheesan, on Saturday, launched a sharp attack on the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government over the handling of the Sabarimala gold theft case, alleging serious lapses by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) due to pressure from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) which, he said, enabled the primary accused to secure statutory bail. Speaking to the media here, Satheesan said the SIT’s failure to file charge sheets w…
New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 23 (IANS) Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly V.D. Satheesan on Friday launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in Thiruvananthapuram, alleging that it exposed the BJP’s election agenda in Kerala as being “purely communal” and rooted in divisive politics that would find no acceptance in the state.In a statement, soon after the Prime Minister’s speech in the state capital city, while addressing party workers, Satheesan, curre…
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 22 (IANS) The Kerala Assembly on Thursday remained paralysed as the Opposition sharpened its attack on the CPI(M)-led government over the Sabarimala gold theft, with Leader of the Opposition (LoP), V.D. Satheesan, asserting that the issue warranted ministerial resignations, not another round of legislative debate.Addressing the media outside the Assembly, LoP Satheesan said the Opposition had deliberately refrained from giving notice for a discussion as there was “nothi…
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 22 (IANS) Former Devaswom Minister and senior CPI(M) legislator Kadakampally Surendran has emerged as the ruling party’s most embattled face in the unfolding Sabarimala gold theft controversy, with developments inside and outside the Kerala Assembly on Thursday underlining a growing dissonance within the Left Front’s public narrative.On Wednesday, breaking his silence amid mounting pressure, Surendran told the media that he had visited the residence of prime accused Unnik…