Pandemonium prevailed in the course of discussions for supplementary grants for various departments in the Assembly on Tuesday, with the Opposition taking strong exception to the remarks made by Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and eventually boycotting the Assembly proceedings.
Opposition LDF members were repeatedly on their feet alleging double standards in the policy of the government related to political attack cases.
They alleged that while the government had slapped cases in the T P Chandrasekharan murder case and cases related to CPM leader M M Mani, the government had not registered similar cases against Kannur MP K Sudhakaran and others in the Naalpadi Vasu murder case and Savourit Hotel bomb hurling case.
Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan said that the government was adopting two kinds of justice as evident from the haste with which cases are registered against CPM leaders and inaction in cases related to UDF leaders.
Elamaram Kareem of the CPM warned that the situation will not be the same when there is a change of government.
The Home Minister maintained that the government will not interfere in the probe or in the conduct of cases and law will take its course.
He said that a special probe was going on into the Naalpadi Vasu murder case and a special team has been formed to go into the specific charges against Sudhakaran.
In the midst of all this, Achuthanandan levelled grave corruption charges against Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan alleging that the duo were instrumental in facilitating the management of the private sector Tecil company in Chingavanam, Kottayam, to rob precious resources of the state including a portion of the lease land holding, way back in 2004.
He alleged that Rs 36 crore due from the company to the State Government was waived and the hydro electric company formed as a subsidiary firm was allowed to be sold off.
He challenged the Chief Minister to seek a CBI probe into the Tecil episode, while leading the LDF MLAs out the Assembly.
In the absence of the Opposition, the House passed the demand for supplementary grants amounting to Rs 43 crore. Thiruvanchoor denies charges
Meanwhile, Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan denied the charges levelled against him by Achuthanandan on Tecil. Achuthanandan had alleged that Thiruvanchoor had participated in a crucial meeting of Tecil company in his capacity as ‘Rural development minister and local MLA representing Kottayam.’
Thiruvanchoor told a news conference that he had never been in charge of the Rural development portfolio and said that he was representing Adoor Assembly segment during 2004 and not Kottayam, in which Chingavanam falls.
‘’I had not attended any meeting with regard to Tecil company,’’he said. The government has not interfered in cases related to CPM leaders and an impartial probe was ensured, he said.