Kerala - Kozhikode   

Oust Ramachandran from Cabinet: Pinarayi

Staff Reporter

Says preliminary talks held with DIC(K), but no final decision yet

KOZHIKODE: State secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Pinarayi Vijayan has demanded the ouster of Health and Family Welfare Minister K. K. Ramachandran from the Cabinet in the wake of the Kerala Lok Ayukta issuing notices on him and several others for their alleged corruption and highhandedness in the health sector.

Addressing a news conference at the Balussery Guest House during his ongoing Kerala Yatra in Kozhikode district on Thursday, the CPI (M) Polit Bureau member said Mr. Ramachandran had been indicted by a judicial agency for his involvement in corruption charges. He should relinquish his post in the normal course of a democratic set-up. But the United Democratic Front (UDF) Government wanted to retain him in the Ministry. This amounted to criminal negligence, Mr. Vijayan said.

Mr.Vijayan claimed that the Kerala March led by him was a big success. It was attracting huge crowds even at places where the party did not have a strong base. Responding to queries from mediapersons, Mr. Vijayan said his party would spell out its stand on the implementation of the Narendran Commission report after the Government took a decision on it.

The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) was raking up the issue after its candidate lost the traditionally held Manjeri Lok Sabha seat in Malappuram district. The report was kept in cold storage when that party's general secretary was a Minister till a year ago, he said.

The CPI (M) had a clear-cut policy on giving job reservations. It wanted to identify the creamy layer in each community while providing reservations.

At the same time, a small percentage of the reservation should be given to the economically weaker sections of the forward community.

To another question, Mr. Vijayan reiterated that the CPI (M) had held preliminary talks with the Democratic Indira Congress (Karunakaran) on inducting the DIC(K) into the Left Democratic Front (LDF).

But the party had not taken a final decision in this regard.

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