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Lavalin plot hatched during UDF regime: Isaac

Photo: C. Ratheesh kumar

Raising a point: CPI(M) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan and Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac at a meeting organised by the party in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday. —

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finance Minister and CPI(M) Central Committee member T.M. Thomas Isaac has alleged that the entire conspiracy relating to the SNC-Lavalin deal, had there indeed been a conspiracy, had happened during the time of the previous government led by the United Democratic Front (UDF).

Addressing a CPI(M) rally here on Tuesday, he asked Union Minister for Defence A.K. Antony to give truthful answers to two questions.

Did the UDF government, when Mr. Antony was the Chief Minister, leave any written document promising the Canadian company SNC-Lavalin that all works connected with hydroelectric projects in the State would be assigned to it?

And did the Antony government make any moves to float a joint venture company with SNC-Lavalin for undertaking such works for the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB)?

Dr. Isaac alleged that the conspiracy dated back to August 10, 1995, when the UDF government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Canadian company for executing the 50-MW Kuttiyadi Extension Project. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had reported that this project, executed through the MoU route, had resulted in a loss of Rs.201 crore to the State exchequer.

He said that CPI(M) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan had only taken forward the pact the UDF government, with G. Karthikeyan as Electricity Minister, had signed with SNC-Lavalin for executing the project for the modernisation and renovation of the hydroelectric stations at Panniyar, Shengulam and Pallivasal.

In the process, Mr. Vijayan also ensured that the State got a far better deal than what was agreed to under the earlier pact, Dr. Isaac claimed.

Dr. Isaac criticised Governor R.S. Gavai for giving permission to the Central Bureau of Investigation to initiate prosecution proceedings against Mr. Vijayan against the advice of the State government.

Inaugurating the rally, the CPI(M) State secretary said that the party would correct the misgivings of the people who had distanced themselves from it and the LDF during this elections and come back with renewed strength. The party had self-critically analysed the reasons for the poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections. Weaknesses within the party and the government would be corrected, he said.

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