THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Close on the heels of National Highway Authority of India’s (NHAI) decision to put on hold land acquisition for NH development in Kerala, Finance minister Thomas Isaac has come out against BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai for attempting to sabotage NH development in the state. Isaac, who released a letter from Pillai to Union minister Nitin Gadkari seeking to keep land acquisition on abeyance, said Pillai should be declared as state’s common enemy.
In a Facebook post on Monday, Isaac alleged Pillai has been using the position of BJP’s state presidentship to sabotage Kerala’s development. “This should not be treated as a mere issue of political differences. He’s trying to sabotage Kerala’s future development. NHAI is trying to ensure that NH development will not become a reality during this government’s tenure. The BJP state president has become a tool for this purpose. Here’s one more evidence how they are trying to destroy the state.
Isaac pointed out that the state government has been moving ahaed on a war-footing, to complete the project by 2020. The government took over construction of Thondayad, Ramanattukara, Vyttila and Kundannoor fly overs. Of this Thondayad and Ramanattukara have been dedicated to the nation while construction of Vyttila and Kundanoo rover bridges are currently underway.
“The previous Oommen Chandy government had abandoned National Highway development following challenges, especially land acquisition. However, the Pinarayi Vijayan government was able to address each of these issues. Now the 3(A) notification for land acquisition was issued. That’s when the Centre is trying to sabotage the project due to political differences,” Isaac said.
He said the NH development is one of the major initiatives of new Kerala. “It’s the first milestone for state’s development. Such a major initiative was sabotaged by Sreedharan Pillai and his party for political gains. Kerala won’t forgive BJP and Pillai for doing so,” Isaac wrote in his FB post.
Pillai denies ‘sabotage’ charge
Kozhikode: BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai on Monday denied CPM’s allegation that his intervention led to the state’s exclusion from the NH development list. “I simply forwarded a memorandum received from the National Highway Action Committee to the Centre requesting necessary action. It is the duty of a leader, who holds a responsible position in a political party, to hear people’s grievances and represent them.
I performed my duty seeking the Centre’s intervention by mentioning ‘do needful if it was in order’,” he said. Pillai said it was unfortunate CPM called upon people to declare him a public enemy. “For a Communist party, declaring someone an enemy means to eliminate that person. Such a stand is dangerous for society,” he said.