THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has turned down Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan's request to hold a special sitting of the assembly to commemorate the 75 years of Inidia's Independence.

Satheesan, on August 5, had suggested for either a midnight sitting on August 14 or a day closer to it, but Pinarayi Vijayan is understood to have informed him now that the state has the practice of several cabinet ministers taking the salute at the 13 district headquarters of the state. Hence, all of them will not be able to make it to the midnight session together.

The Congress-led opposition is debating the best course of action in response to Vijayan's response because he did not provide any other viable dates.

On Friday, the opposition Congress-led UDF urged Kerala's Speaker M. B. Rajesh and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to call a special midnight session of the state Assembly on August 14 to commemorate the nation's 75th anniversary of independence.

V D Satheesan, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Assembly, sent a letter to the Chief Minister and Speaker recommending the same.

In the letter, he cited the House's prior actions in calling such special sessions to mark the 25th and 40th anniversaries of the nation's independence, respectively, on August 14, 1972, and August 13, 1987.

Satheesan also wished for the Assembly to adopt a resolution pledging joint action to uphold the fundamental tenets of the constitution, including secularism and democracy, and to rekindle the heroic memory of the freedom struggle.

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