Finance minister KM Mani read out the state budget at top speed this morning in the Kerala assembly, finishing in seven minutes. He was surrounded by assembly staff to prevent opposition leaders from reaching him.
Minutes before, lawmakers of the opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) had clashed with the assembly's Watch and Ward staff as they attempted to block all entrances into the assembly. The lawmakers pushed and toppled the Speaker's chair and tore out his mic flinging it across the room.
As Mr Mani, 81, read the Budget speech, the opposition's lawmakers raised slogans against him, while those of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) cheered. Chief Minister Oomen Chandy was in the house. In some corners of the large hall, lawmakers were seen pushing each other.
An LDF worker died of heart attack during protest outside the Kerala assembly, TV channels reported.
With the LDF making it clear that all roads leading to the assembly would be blocked, Mani and some of his colleagues stayed back in the assembly complex since Thursday's session.
Mani, who managed to enter the assembly amidst bedlam, read out some excerpts of the budget in the guard of watch and wards and tabled it before the House.
