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Endosulfan, air crash dominate LDF campaign

Kasaragod: The Left Democratic Front's recent poll campaign in the district has mainly focussed on the Central government's stance on the ban on Endosulfan pesticide

In the meetings addressed by the Left leaders of late, the Congress-led government at the Centre has come in for heavy criticism for opposing the pesticide's ban at the recent Stockholm Convention. Aerial spraying of Endosulfan in the Plantation Corporation of Kerala's cashew estates in Kasaragod has left around 175 people dead and hundreds crippled for life.

CPI (M) State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan said the Congress “is even deadlier than the pesticide itself,” since it was not opposing the ban. Similar views were aired by senior CPI (M) leader and local MP P. Karunakaran, who said the pesticide should be banned in India to prevent Bhopal-like gas tragedies.

The Mangalore air crash too came in as a topic for debate. The CPI (M) leaders attacked the Civil Aviation Ministry for “deliberately” delaying the settlement of insurance claims of the victims of the crash, in which 158 passengers — 58 from the district — were killed. The LDF leaders accused the Centre of adopting delaying tactics to bail out the insurance consortium, forcing the victims' relatives to accept whatever is offered by the company.

The Congress-led United Democratic Front, which found itself on the defensive, contended that this was not the right time to rake up the issue. “Spraying of Endosulfan has been banned in Kerala for long and there is no need to raise the issue while campaigning for local body polls,” DCC president K. Veluthambu told reporters at Kanhangad. He added that this was no occasion to discuss the air crash. “It is a sensitive issue. We are hopeful of the Civil Aviation Ministry speeding up the insurance disbursal,” he maintained.

Both fronts do not seem interested in highlighting civic issues like the dismal condition of road network in the district. Rather, the debate is more on the current state of politics in the State.

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