Kerala Sabarimala gold row : Opposition protest rocks Assembly again; MLAs storm Speaker’s dais

The Kerala Legislative Assembly on Tuesday (February 3, 2026) witnessed pandemonium once again over the Sabarimala gold theft row, even as the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) members stormed the Speaker’s dais. Speaker A.N. Shamseer halted the proceedings twice as the Opposition’s protests intensified.

As soon as the Question Hour began, the Assembly witnessed acrimonious scenes when Opposition MLAs stormed the well of the House and blocked the view of the Speaker by raising banners and placards, demanding the resignation of Devaswom Minister V.N. Vasavan in connection with the Sabarimala gold case, along with other demands. Midway through the protest, legislators Anwar Sadat and T.V. Ibrahim attempted to storm the Speaker’s dais by breaking the cordon of the Watch and Ward guards.

As the commotion spiralled out of control, the Speaker left the dais around 9:40 a.m., stopping the Question Hour proceedings midway. Later, when the Speaker reconvened the proceedings around 10 a.m. by starting the Zero Hour proceedings, Opposition MLAs continued to disrupt the proceedings by attempting to storm the Speaker’s dais again. This was followed by another break in the proceedings, with the Speaker leaving the dais in an effort to bring the situation under control.

Satheesan alleges CMO intervention

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan announced the Opposition’s decision to stall the proceedings in protest against the “intervention” by the Office of the Chief Minister (CMO) in the SIT investigation in the case. He also alleged that all the accused in the case have been receiving bail due to “weak defence by the prosecution.”

“Soon, the main accused in the case, Unnikrishnan Potti, will also get bail with the intervention of the office of the Chief Minister,” he alleged.

Ministers hit back

The ruling side, however, responded to the Opposition’s allegations by pointing to the latter’s “alliance with the accused” in the case. General Education Minister V. Sivankutty highlighted Mr. Potti’s alleged “link” with Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, along with other senior Congress leaders.

M.B. Rajesh, Minister for Local Self-Government, accused the Opposition, which he said was “hit by the want of subjects in the Assembly”, of even “insulting the High Court Justice by making unreasonable allegations against the Justice to make political points.”

Law Minister P. Rajeeve alleged that “the main purpose of the publicity stunt” by the Opposition was to “sabotage” the SIT probe.

Later, the Opposition announced its decision to boycott the proceedings and walked out of the Assembly.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Speaker too condemned the Opposition for their “actions” in the Assembly.