THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and his Cabinet colleagues on Tuesday jointly took on the Opposition during their replies to the charges LDF MLAs raised during the debate on the no-confidence motion in the Assembly. Nine UDF Ministers came up with replies to contend that the corruption charges raised against them were baseless. The debate on the no-confidence motion lasted 25 hours spread across three days with more than 50 per cent of the 140-strong House participating in the debate. The no-confidence motion was defeated by a 82-46 vote.

The Chief Minister picked holes in the 13-point `charge-sheet' presented by CPI(M) deputy leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who had moved the no-confidence motion. He said that the `charge-sheet' had failed to even mention the problems faced by traditional industrial sector, agriculture and the unemployed youths. The Government, however, had taken a decision to distribute pension amounts to various categories every month on a par with the salary payment of Government employees. The pension arrears would be cleared and the amounts would be released every month.

The Chief Minister also denied corruption charges against him, including his alleged connection with an official of the Dubai Internet City. He said that he had interfered in the sign board issue because he felt it would not be appropriate to pursue the case against an upright Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department. The decision on the sign board issue was taken by the then PWD Minister P.J. Joseph. Similarly, he had issued a favourable order withdrawing a liquor case against the former Additional Chief Secretary Zacharia Mathew taking into account his record. Mr. Mathew had been cleared in one of the cases and since the rest were of the similar nature, he had ordered the withdrawal of the case against him. In both these cases, he had taken decision as per the dictates of his conscience.

Mr. Chandy urged the Opposition not to encourage frequent hartals. Similarly, he said that the Government would remain unfazed by corruption charges that were merely intended to scuttle development work. Among the Ministers who tendered their explanations to corruption charges against them were Revenue Minister K.M. Mani, Water Resources Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Public Works Minister M.K. Muneer, Health Minister K.K. Ramachandran Master, Rural Development Minister C.F. Thomas, Finance Minister Vakkom Purushothaman, Civil Supplies Minister Adoor Prakash, Industries Minister V.K. Ebrahim Kunju. The House also witnessed a flutter when CPI(M) member M.V. Jayarajan marched into the well of the House in protest against the Speaker's observation that he had tabled a document that was merely a reply of the Minister concerned to a question related to the food-for-work programme in Wayanad district.

The House witnessed uproarious scenes when IUML leader P.K. Kunhalikutty protested against the Opposition Leader's statement linking him to the ownership of sandalwood factories. The IUML and the CPI(M) members moved out of their seats, gesticulating at each other. Mr. Kunhalikutty said that he did not mean to over-react, but the Opposition was going too far with its baseless charges.

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