THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of the Congress state unit on Wednesday demanded that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan abdicate the charge of the Home portfolio, asserting that he had proved to be totally inept and a miserable failure in stemming violence and political killings in Kannur and elsewhere in the state.
The PAC also made it clear that there would be no compromise on the demand for the resignation of Industries Minister E P Jayarajan, over the appointment row involving the close relatives of the CPM leaders, including his kith and kin. The Congress will organise an Assembly march on October 17, raising the demand, when the House re-assembles after a recess. Briefing mediapersons on the PAC decisions, KPCC president V M Sudheeran said that a situation was prevailing as if the chief minister himself was leading the killings in Kannur.
"It has been proved beyond doubt that Pinarayi Vijayan cannot handle the Home portfolio in an efficient and non-partisan manner. Like terrorists, both the BJP and CPM are making a war cry with a spate of murders in Kannur. The police are practically mute witnesses when the BJP ruling the Centre and the CPM are indulging in retaliatory killings and making a blood bath in the state. On a whole, the entire set-up of the state police is in tatters, though the force has the capability to act sternly within minutes if a free hand is given. The police have totally failed as the force cannot do anything now," the PAC observed.
According to the KPCC president, the Home Department and the state government had failed to protect the lives and property of the people. The PAC also observed that Kerala was shocked to see the nepotism behind the appointment of the kith and kin of CPM leaders in key posts. Sudheeran said that nothing short of the resignation of Industries Minister E P Jayarajan was acceptable to the Congress and the UDF.
"Party national general secretary Sitaram Yechury has reportedly commented that some ‘corrections’ will be made at the party state secretariat meet. The matter is not related to some internal thing that has happened in the party, but in the government. None should think that the issue can be settled through party ‘corrections’. Jayarajan should either resign on his own or be expelled from the ministry,” he said.
To a query, Sudheeran said that the UDF stir against the Left government-self-financed medical colleges’ collusion to charge higher fees and facilitate collection of huge capitation fees would continue in and outside the Assembly.
