The Opposition staged a walkout in the Assembly on Thursday, after the Speaker denied permission for an adjournment motion on the Aranmula airport project moved by CPI’s Mullakara Ratnakaran.
Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan said that the UDF Government was rushing ahead with the Aranmula airport project ignoring concerns raised from various quarters, including Congress leader V M Sudheeran and poet Sugathakumari. ‘’We will continue the stir opposing the project,’’ he said.
Though the government assured in the Assembly that any sorts of violations in the Aranmula airport project would not be allowed, the Opposition was not willing to buy the claim.
While the Opposition criticised the government for taking 10 percent sweat equity in the controversial airport project, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said that the previous LDF Government had decided to take three per cent sweat equity in the project.
‘’After the UDF Government came to power we had only raised it to 10 per cent,’’ he said. When Mullakara Ratnakaran, who moved the adjournment motion, pointed out the concerns raised by Sudheeran, Chandy said that the decision with regard to the project was taken after discussion in the UDF and the Congress. ‘’De-notification of land beyond 500 acres required for the project was getting delayed owing to the complexities involved in the notification issued by the previous LDF Government towards the end of its term. The concerns that the Aranmula airport would affect the prospects of the Thiruvananthapuram and Nedumbassery airports are baseless,’’ he saiid
Before staging the walkout, Opposition leader Achuthanandan alleged that the government was trying to justify the violations involved in the project by blaming the previous LDF Government, which is baseless.