Kerala - Kollam   

Break `silence' on Lavalin deal, Chennithala tells CPI(M)

Staff Reporter

KOLLAM: Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Ramesh Chennithala has questioned the CPI(M) Polit Bureau's ``silence'' over the controversial SNC-Lavalin deal.

Talking to presspersons here on Sunday, Mr. Chennithala alleged that it was out of fear that the Polit Bureau was ignoring the issue.

``I had met CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat and gave an open letter on the issue, but he had not replied to it so far,'' Mr. Chennithala said.

When the CPI(M) Polit Bureau lost no time in constituting a special committee to look into the Centaur Hotel deal, no such urgency is being seen over the Lavalin deal. Mr. Chennithala said that the last Polit Bureau meeting had discussed the issue but deliberately avoided taking any decision. He alleged that the CPI(M) was trying to white wash the Lavalin deal.

The deal in question is one of the biggest corruption cases in the history of the State. The people are concerned and they want an answer.

Since it was Mr. Vijayan who had finalised and signed the deal, he should come forward and explain to the people.

Instead the CPI(M) was trying to camouflage the corruption by attacking the UDF and the KPCC on this issue, Mr. Chennithala said.

``There is no use trying to pass the buck on the Congress,'' the KPCC president said.

Mr. Vijayan was particularly interested in pursuing and finalising the Lavalin deal, Mr. Chennithala alleged. That precisely is the reason why he ignored the BHEL and went after Lavalin. He said that there was no need for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the Lavalin deal.

``We have not lost confidence in the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau,'' Mr. Chennithala said. To a question, he said that if the former Congress(S) leader V.C. Kabeer expressed his willingness to join the Congress, he would be wholeheartedly welcomed.

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