THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan has accused the UDF government of striking a deal with the BJP-RSS to undermine the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC), a constitutional body. Inaugurating a public meeting organised as part of the CPM’s extended Thiruvananthapuram district conference, Pinarayi launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister V D Satheesan and the UDF government. He said even the President could not take action against the PSC chairman or its members merely on the grounds of dissatisfaction.
“The chief minister was part of the section that tried to malign the Kerala PSC during the LDF regime. Governor Rajendra Arlekar, an RSS nominee, had recommended to the President that the PSC be dissolved while leaving office, despite a court direction that the governor could not act independently without the state government’s permission,” he said.
Pinarayi alleged that the UDF had struck a deal with the governor on the issue. He questioned how the government had reciprocated the alleged favour. “How was the favour repaid? The government organised a special send-off for the governor,” he said.
Pinarayi also alleged that the UDF government had allowed RSS nominees to enter the higher education sector through nominations made by the governor. He accused the government of attempting to undermine KIIFB, thereby derailing development projects.
He also criticised the Maritime Bill introduced in the assembly, alleging that it would hand over mineral-sand resources to corporates.
Under the proposed Maritime Board, chaired by the chief minister, the CM would also be the vice-chairman, while the Revenue, Fisheries and Local Self-Government ministers would not be represented, he said. “If implemented, the legislation would prevent local fishermen from going out to sea and affect around two lakh fishermen,” Pinarayi said.
Addressing the meeting, CPM state secretary M V Govindan accused the Muslim League of becoming sympathetic to Jamaat-e-Islami’s ideology, which he described as one promoting hardline divisive politics. He also alleged that the SNDP Yogam was now moving towards an understanding with the RSS-BJP.