THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Simmering discontent among a section of Congress leaders and UDF constituents over Chief Minister V D Satheesan taking unilateral decisions has reached a flash point, with UDF convener Adoor Prakash publicly airing his displeasure.
Addressing the media here on Thursday, Prakash said he comes to know of the government's decisions only through the media. He said he was pained at not being able to answer questions about the UDF.
"Many decisions were taken without any consultation. I'm not complaining. The UDF government has been in power for four months. Still, several boards and corporations are headed by people appointed by the previous LDF government," he said.
Prakash said he would not go so far as to say the CM had hijacked the system. But matters requiring joint consultation should be decided that way. He alleged that the CM had denied permission to convene meetings of the UDF. Prakash said he would take up the matter with the AICC, which had appointed him UDF convener.
It is learnt that the immediate provocation for Prakash was certain decisions taken by the recent Cabinet meeting including the appointment of Indian Union Muslim League leader MK Muneer as chairman of the Administrative Reforms Commission with Cabinet rank and Forward Bloc National General Secretary G Devarajan as Keralam’s Special Representative in New Delhi.
The TNIE had earlier reported that a section of Congress leaders wanted to give the key Administrative Reforms Commission chairman post for its senior leaders left out of the Assembly. Satheesan was against this proposal as he had earlier given a word to the IUML to give the post to that party in exchange for stepping back from demanding a sixth ministerial berth.