THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Defending the appointment of government pleaders, Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Wednesday said they were among the names suggested by the state committee of the Indian Lawyers’ Congress and the High Court Unit Committee. The final decision was taken after consultations with Advocate General and as per merit, he told reporters.
Accusing the media of blowing KSU members’ concerns over two pleaders’ links with other political parties out of proportion, he also hit out at the Congress’ student wing, saying it does not decide who to appoint as pleaders.
“Does the unit committee of Thiruvananthapuram Law College decide government pleaders? They don’t have a say in this,” he said. In response, KSU president Aloshius Xavier later told reporters that he should have been more cautious while making it. He also said KSU will raise its concerns directly before the CM.
During the press conference, Satheesan also lashed out at the media over reports of delay in the SIT report against ADGP M R Ajithkumar in connection with the attack of Youth Congress leaders during the previous government’s Nava Kerala Sadas. “The government has a procedure and can act only based on them,” Satheesan said.
Hitting back at CPM leader P A Mohamed Riyas who criticised him for meeting Hindu Aikyavedi leaders, Satheesan said he was the CM of all the people of the state. “I met them, two of whom were actively campaigning against me, at my office during visitor’s time. I acted unlike former CM Pinarayi Vijayan who discreetly met RSS leaders at the Mascot Hotel by travelling in another vehicle,” he said.
‘I have right to visit Temple’
Refuting the Left’s criticisms of him taking a soft Hindutva route following his visit to the Mookambika temple, Satheesan said he had the right to visit a temple. “I have been a devotee of Kollur Mookambika for the past 37 years. I have the constitutional right to believe in God. How can that be called soft Hindutva?” he asked.
LDF govt failed to collect Rs 219cr from Adani: VDS
T’Puram: Chief Minister V D Satheesan attacked the LDF government for diluting the original concessionaire agreement to favour the Adani Group and not extracting the penalty amount of J219 crore for delay in completing the first phase of the Vizhinjam Seaport project in 2019. “The LDF government also made an amendment by extending the tenure by another five years. They also adjusted J43 crore in favour of the concessionaire, with the viability gap fund. Was that part of the deal,” asked Satheesan.
File tracking
Saying that the state government often loses crores of rupees due to slow initial implementation of several schemes, CM Satheesan announced that the cabinet had approved a Business Policy and Re-engineering Cell to coordinate interdepartmental activities, map projects at the state level, and track file movements. However, the file tracking system is likely to stir up controversies of power centralisation, as it will have provisions for the CMO and chief secretary’s office to track the live status of each government file.