THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, it was the turn of Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan to challenge Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for a public debate on his criticism against the Opposition’s baseless objection towards development projects in Kerala.
“The chief minister can fix the date and place for the public debate,” he said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
Setting the agenda for the local body election for LDF, CM had unleashed criticism against UDF on issues ranging from sexual assault accusation against expelled Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil, alleged electoral understanding with Jamaat-e-Islami to Opposition’s stance on development issues.
In his reply, Satheesan reminded the chief minsiter that two CPM leaders are still in jail for their alleged involvement in the Sabarimala gold theft case. He also reiterated that in the case of sexual assault case, Congress had taken a stand that no other political parties in the country could take. However, later in the day, the chief minister said that leader of Opposition could not reply to any of the questions he had raised.
“On the other hand he has written something on Facebook as a reply to me. Unfortunately it is baseless and a tangle of mistakes. I could only describe it as pathetic,” he said.
The chief minister further criticised the Opposition for its stance of objecting ‘everything.’ “I am once again asking them what is their stand on LIFE Mission, Vizhinjam port, Wayanad Twin Tunnel, NH development, GAIL pipeline, extreme poverty eradication, Kerala Bank, K- fone, Chooralmala-Mundakkai and K Rail,” he added.