Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Chandy lashes out at VS

Thiruvananthapuram: Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy on Tuesday accused Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan of deliberately delaying a decision on Public Works Minister T.U. Kuruvilla’s resignation in connection with his and his family members’ alleged involvement in a land scam.

Addressing a press meet, Mr. Chandy said the Minister should resign on moral grounds in the wake of the allegations against him and his family members. He said the Chief Minister had failed to perform his constitutional duties by not acting on an allegation raised by a ruling front member. “In all such previous cases, the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister concerned had examined whether there was a prima facie case in the allegations against their Cabinet colleagues. Minist ers had resigned when prima facie case was established against them,” he said.

Mr. Chandy pointed out that P.C. George, a ruling front MLA, had written to the Chief Minister on July 23 alleging that Mr. Kuruvilla was involved in the land scam. On July 25, Congress MLA C.P. Mohammed had raised the issue in the Assembly, seeking the Chief Minister’s stand on the allegation. The Chief Minister remained silent, leaving it to Mr. Kuruvilla to answer the charges. The Idukki District Collector, who examined the matter, submitted his report on August 24. The report was neither published nor acted upon. There are reports that the Chief Secretary had been asked to inquire into the issue. This was a deliberate attempt to delay the decision and allow the accused to escape action, he said.

In reply to a question, Mr. Chandy said the District Collector was the most competent authority and authorised official to comment on any issue related to a land deal. A fresh inquiry was warranted only if there were any shortcomings in the Collector’s report. When his attention was drawn to Mr. Kuruvilla’s statement that he could not be held responsible for his family members’ action, Mr. Chandy said: “A public servant should not say this. He has several limitations.”

Asked why he was hesitant to demand the Minister’s resignation, Mr. Chandy said the responsibility rested with the Chief Minister, who has been sitting on the matter for more than a month. “I demand Mr. Kuruvilla’s resignation if he is reluctant to resign just because the Opposition did not ask for it,” Mr. Chandy said.

The Opposition leader said the High Court reference to the failure of Kerala Police in taking action against criminals and organised crime was a serious matter. If the police failed to take steps against organised crime, the State would become a haven for criminals and mafia gangs, he said. On the other hand, the police were suppressing democratic protests and framing charges against agitators. In Wayanad, Youth Congress and Congress workers who protested against the illegal arrest of a youth were booked. Mr. Chandy said the functioning of the local bodies had been paralysed. The Government had re-launched the People’s Plan Campaign with much fanfare, but Plan implementation would suffer a setback because the Government had failed to clear a single project in the last five months. The Government had said that the funds would be released from September 1, but the training for expert committee members was due to conclude only on August 31. It would take four months for the committees to complete Plan preparation.

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