Kerala - Alappuzha   

Affidavit on HMT land deal illegal: Chandy

Oommen Chandy says it is against the interests of the State.

ALAPPUZHA: Leader of the Opposition Oommen Chandy said here on Friday that the government’s affidavit in the court on the HMT land deal was illegal and against the interests of the State.

Inaugurating a State-level seminar organised here in connection with the 25th death anniversary of former Congress leader and mother of Union Minister Vayalar Ravi, Devaki Krishnan, Mr. Chandy said the exemption under the Land Reforms Act for an individual or institution to possess more than 15 acres of land could be applicable to the public sector HMT, but not to Blue Star Realtors. In that sense, the sale was illegal and whatever the State government was doing to make it appear legal was wrong, he said.

Mr. Chandy also criticised the State government for blaming the Centre for the deal, accusing the government of passing on the buck to the Centre for every tricky situation it found itself in. The same was the case with the rise in prices of essential goods, he said.

“If everything is being done by the Centre, what is the relevance of the State government and why is it here for,” he asked.

Earlier, Mr. Chandy said that Devaki Krishnan was one of those Congress leaders who had suffered a lot at the hands of the then Communist government while fighting for the genuine rights of women. She was among those woman leaders whom an entire generation, including himself, had looked upon with great respect.

Union Defence Minister A.K. Antony will inaugurate a public meeting at Vayalar on Sunday in connection with the death anniversary programmes.

Senior women leaders of the Congress will be felicitated on the occasion.

District Congress Committee president A.A. Shukoor, K.C. Venugopal, MLA., AICC member K.S. Vasudeva Sharma, D. Sugathan, former MLA., Mahila Congress leaders Shanimol Usman and Lathika Subhash were present at the seminar.

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

Stories in this Section

Affidavit on HMT land deal illegal: Chandy
Tsunami fund to boost water supply

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu