Kerala Assembly: UDF boycotts House proceedings after Speaker denies adjournment motion on delay in disbursing social welfare pensions

UDF stages walkout in Kerala Assembly over LDF's failure to disburse social security pensions, sparking heated debate.

The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) staged a walkout in the Kerala Assembly on June 20 protesting against Speaker A.N. Shamseer’s decision to deny the Opposition leave for an adjournment motion to debate the hardships caused to large sections by the Left Democratic Front (LDF)’s perceived failure in ensuring the timely disbursal of social security pensions and their arrears.

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan accused the Kerala government of neglecting the plight of social welfare pensioners, including senior citizens, differently-abled persons and widows, who have been struggling to purchase medicines and make ends meet.

He also took a swipe at the LDF by demanding that they learn from its mistakes that led to the electoral drubbing that it suffered in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “The government has compounded the woes of the pensioners by denying benefits to those unable to complete the mustering exercise on time. Besides, it also misled the public by imposing a social security cess on petroleum products, even while failing to distribute pensions,” he said.

In response to Finance Minister K.N. Balagopal’s charge that the UDF had not provided welfare pensions for 18 months during the tenure of the Oommen Chandy government, Mr. Satheesan dismissed this as a “false narrative”. He cited the White Paper on the State’s finances presented by former Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac in the Assembly, shortly after the previous Pinarayi Vijayan had come into power in 2016.

“The document had categorically stated that there were arrears amounting to ₹806 crore for three months from November 2014. A year later, the Minister provided a similar response to a question raised by (former MLA) M. Swaraj in the House,” he said.

Mr. Balagopal acknowledged the government’s failure to clear five months’ social welfare pension dues totalling ₹5,400 crore. He blamed the Central government for Kerala’s fiscal difficulties and challenged the UDF to support Kerala’s interests in Parliament, now that they have “comprehensively” won the elections.

He further took the fight to the Opposition by questioning its commitment in championing the cause of the common populace. He sought to adopt the Congress-led Karnataka government’s recent decision to hike the price of petroleum products by ₹3 per litre as political ammunition against the UDF.