THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala blamed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for sending IT secretary M Sivasankar to meet CPI secretary Kanam Rajendran late on Wednesday to explain the Sprinklr deal.
Chennithala alleged at a press meet on Thursday that the CM's actions are leading to officials being demoralised, adding that a bureaucrat meeting a party leader at the party office is unheard of.
He also claimed that Pinarayi has not commented on the allegations he had raised since April 10, adding that the CM is still haunted by the SNC Lavalin row. On Wednesday, the CM had alleged that the Opposition had criticized the two-member expert committee to probe the Sprinklr deal.
"The CM sounds desperate and is trying to portray himself as a martyr. The CPM and LDF have not batted for Pinarayi on the Sprinklr deal," said Chennithala. He added that CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Politburo member S Ramachandran Pillai and CPM secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan have not supported the LDF government's deal with US company Sprinklr.
Chennithala said only a CBI probe will reveal the details of the deal. The LDF government's decision to appoint a committee to probe the deal reveals that the CM has changed his earlier stand and admitted his mistake, he said.
Chennithala also urged the government not to cut the salaries of health workers, police, revenue and panchayat officials as they have been doing yeoman service to combat COVID-19.