The Kerala assembly bore witness to “interesting” scenes today (7 March) after former home minister and Congress MLA Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan decided to bring a grenade with him.

According to an ANI report, Radhakrishnan, the Congress MLA representing Kottayam brought an expired grenade and showed to the speaker of the assembly. While showing it he claimed that the grenades which were used by the police to disperse Youth Congress protesters sometime last week, were well beyond their expiry date.

Radhakrishnan is a senior state Congress leader, having held important portfolios like Transport, Sports and even the Home Ministry during the erstwhile Oommen Chandy government.

It is not yet clear why security did not object to him bringing in a grenade in the premises. The practice of politicians entering assembly premises with weaponry is not new however. On Monday (5 March) Manoj Nyangli an MLA of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) from Rajasthan entered the assembly with a pistol and even participated in the proceedings for about two hours while having it in his possession.

He was only caught in this act while answering the media’s questions after leaving the premises. There the pistol was supposedly dangling from his waist, when it was captured on camera. After being confronted about it he claimed that he mistakenly carried it with him.

With inputs from OpIndia