Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

No-confidence motion lacks credibility, says K.M. Mani

Special Correspondent

Mood of electorate changing in favour of UDF: Kunhalikutty

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Minister for Revenue K.M. Mani has described the no-trust motion moved by the Opposition against the Oommen Chandy Government as one that lacked `even an iota of credibility.'

Replying to charges of corruption levelled against the Ministers during the discussion on the motion, Mr. Mani said the Opposition members not even had an idea of what to raise in the House and how to present their case, "if at all they had a case against the Government."

Corruption charges listed by the Opposition resembled a housewife's list for provisions from a stationery shop, he joked.

He said the Opposition members could not even agree with one another on the amounts involved in the `imagined corrupt deals' of the Government. "The CPI(M) has panicked by the Lavalin revelations and is behaving like a mad elephant expending its anger on everything in its sight," he said.

The leader of the Indian Union Muslim League P.K. Kunhalikutty dealt on the `unpredictability of the mood of the electorate' to warn the Left Democratic Front members that they should rather not take for granted their victory in the next Assembly elections.

The last Lok Sabha elections and the recent byelections to two seats in the Assembly, in which the UDF had found itself on the defensive, could not be taken as a precursor to a big LDF win in the next Assembly elections to be held within a year.

The mood of the electorate was already changing in the State in favour of the United Democratic Front, he said.

The SNC Lavalin deal was once again the dominant topic of discussion on the final day of the proceedings of the no-trust motion on Tuesday.

Congress MLA and former Forest Minister K. Sudhakaran asked why the previous LDF Government had gone in for the contract with the Canadian company SNC Lavalin, neglecting the advice of the Balanandan Committee appointed by it soon after coming to power in 1996.

Joseph M. Puthusserry of the Kerala Congress (M) and E.M. Augusty of the Congress referred to the `irregularities' in the deal. executed when CPI(M) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan was holding the office of Electricity Minister.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Vizhinjam container terminal to have berths for cruise liners
Chaos prevails in front of schools
`Charge-sheet' ignored traditional sector: Chandy
RCC goes in for upgradation
No-confidence motion lacks credibility, says K.M. Mani
Karthikeyan defends deal with Lavalin
Five-member gang arrested
Essay, elocution contests for students
Robbery: four held
CAP: 974 get allotment
Flower show
Around the City
Briefly
In Thiruvananthapuram Today
Campus Notes

Copyright © 2005, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu