THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Political compulsions and the watchful eye of the Congress high command have jolted party leaders in the state to bury the hatchet. The political affairs committee (PAC) on Saturday unanimously decided to strike hard, politically and legally, against the moves of the LDF Government in the Solar Commission report. Unanimity prevailed as none, including V M Sudheeran, was willing to go by on the charge of sexual harassment alleged against former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
‘Padayorukkam,’ the month-long statewide political campaign led by Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala from November 1, against the anti-people and unethical policies of the state and Central governments, will also become a political platform to counter the alleged witch hunt of the LDF Government using the Solar report. The PAC felt Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is giving vent to a political vendetta against top Congress leaders, Oommen Chandy and others, which warranted a united countering politically and legally, KPCC president M M Hassan told reporters.
The meet asserted the government has virtually confessed now the legal opinion of the Advocate General on the Vigilance probe and slapping of rape charges was wrong. ‘’The government going by a legal opinion of a political appointee like the Advocate General or the Director General of Prosecutions before seeking the opinion of the state’s Law Department is wrong and against the rules under S.112 of the secretariat manual,’’ the meet said.
Hassan said the Chief Minister, who had stated the Solar report will be presented in the Assembly within the mandatory six months, has now buckled under pressure of society and the media, and the Cabinet has recommended the convening of a day’s special session. ‘’The government has yielded to the Opposition demand for tabling the Commission report in the Assembly, as there was a concerted bid to deny a copy of the report . The convening of Assembly is to save the disfigured face of the government. It is clear by now from the text of the Chief Minister’s press note, issued while declaring a Vigilance probe, he had taken a political decision by keeping even his Cabinet colleagues in the dark and sourced tailor-made legal opinion from the AG for necessary back up,’’ he said.
‘’The government has desperately sought a fresh letter to institute sexual harassment and rape charges against UDF leaders from the Solar con woman, an accused in 33 cheating cases and known to change her stand from time to time suiting her interests, and whose credibility was questioned by even the High Court. For a government, it’s a shame and naive to resort to such means for fulfilling political vendetta,’’ the PAC meet observed.
‘Pinarayi and Karat are the BJP’s ‘B team’ in CPM’
The PAC meet took serious note of Pinarayi Vijayan striving hard to position the BJP in the state as the real Opposition through his actions one after the other favouring the Sangh Parivar forces despite loud talk to the contrary. Blaming Pinarayi for an alleged strategy to displace the Congress-led UDF and give more importance to the BJP, Hassan said the BJP’s Jana Raksha Yatra in the state and the marches held to the BJP and CPM offices in New Delhi were all part of such a political design.
‘’Nothing else can be deduced from Pinarayi seeking a fresh complaint from the Solar con woman to slap rape charges against senior Congress leaders and deciding to write off the medical college approval scam involving BJP leaders in the state. The vociferous attack of the CPM against the BJP is only with an eye on minority votes,’’ Hassan said.
The Chief Minister’s soft stand on the BJP, on the sly, should be read together with his stiff opposition, along with Prakash Karat, towards having any tie-up with the Congress, even as a vast section in the CPM central committee were for joining hands with secular and democratic forces for realising a broad platform to browbeat the BJP. Karat and Pinarayi are acting like BJP’s ‘B team’ in the CPM,’’ the 21-member PAC observed. Except MPs Mullappally Ramachandran and Kodikunnil Suresh, all members attended the PAC meet.
The PAC decided to observe October 31, the martyrdom day of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, with a solemn pledge to fight divisive and fascist forces, raising the slogan ‘Salute Indiraji, Save India’