THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Motion witnesses both Treasury and Opposition benches trading a slew of corruption charges.Left fields 11 members, but most fail to effectively counter Oppn over gold smuggling, Life Mission scams.Pinarayi scores points himself in the end as he narrates the saga of his entire tenure
With hardly two months remaining for local body elections, the ruling Left front and the Opposition UDF initiated their political campaigns, albeit cloaked in subtleties, through the daylong no-confidence motion debate in the assembly on Monday. The motion witnessed both the Treasury and Opposition benches trading a slew of corruption charges, in addition to indications of shifts in political affiliations.
As the Left enjoys a comfortable majority with 93 seats in the house, the outcome was a forgone conclusion. Cornering the Pinarayi Vijayan government over various corruption charges, and putting it on the defensive during the debate at least, the Opposition scored political points through the token protest. The Left, however, was able to counter some of the charges, while also listing out its achievements over the past four years.
Though the Left fielded 11 members including seniors like S Sarma, Mullakkara Ratnakaran, Mathew T Thomas, Pradeep Kumar, James Mathew and youngsters like M Swaraj and Veena George, most of them failed to counter effectively the Opposition tirade over gold smuggling and Life Mission controversies.Instead, they were more keen on either showering praises on Pinarayi or reiterating the ‘soft Hindutva’ dig at the Congress. While Pradeep wanted the UDF motion to be thrown into the political dustbin, Swaraj referred to Sonia Gandhi’s offer to step down as AICC chief and attacked the Congress for its internal tiff and charges over the solar scam. James Mathew, among the last speakers for the ruling dispensation, opened a direct war front with IUML.
“Should more details about gold smuggling come out, it’ll affect the existence of IUML directly,” alleged Mathew. On the other hand, though the Opposition could not come up with fresh charges over the gold smuggling case and the role of the CMO, and that of former principal secretary M Sivasankar, it scored with sharp attacks by almost everyone who spoke for the UDF. Right from V D Satheesan, who was able to corner the government while moving the motion, to P T Thomas, K M Shaji and Shafi Parambil, everyone unleashed scathing criticism against the government, especially the CM.
“Isn’t there anyone in the Left to shout out the truth that he (the king) is naked?” asked P T Thomas who felt all Cabinet ministers have become subservient to Pinarayi. Congress’ young turk Shafi was acidic and sarcastic in his attack, as he lamented that it now seems Pinarayi is the only one without any link with the Chief Minister’s Office.
Taking a dig at Pinarayi, M Ummer wanted to know why the Left could not let Sivasankar continue to rule the state for the remaining short period, as he was the one who ruled the state for the last 4.5 years. “Why are you taking over now?” asked Ummer. Pinarayi, of course, seemed to score points himself in the end as he was more or less able to narrate the saga of his entire tenure, a record of sorts.
Bard in the House
Our Chief Minister is an ‘honourable man’. But the Chief Minister’s Office has been hijacked by smugglersV D Satheesan, Congress MLA
All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten the misdeeds committed by the Pinarayi Vijayan government Ramesh Chennithala, Oppn leader
Much ado about nothing. Full of sound and fury signifying nothing
Minister G Sudhakaran on the no-confidence motion
CM backs Jaleel
T’Puram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan defended Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel who is facing the Opposition’s attack for receiving assistance from the UAE Consulate in alleged violation of rules. Pinarayi said the minister’s stance that he was ready for any probe showed he had nothing to hide and that he had not committed any wrongdoing. The CM said only transfer, receipt or acceptance of funds from foreign sources comes under per Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act. In Jaleel’s case, he has not indulged in any of these. Neither had he received any assistance for his personal needs, Pinarayi said.
Jose group on backfoot after stance in Assembly
Kottayam: The Jose K Mani faction of KC(M) now finds itself in yet another difficult situation after two of its MLAs abstained from assembly proceedings. The decision has strained Jose faction’s relations with the UDF and will take them to another legal battle over the right to issue party whip if the P J Joseph faction approaches the Speaker seeking their disqualification. Meanwhile, Jose said, “After ousting KC(M) from UDF without showing any democratic courtesies, those behind the ouster made some statements against the party in the assembly. This is part of the attempts to mislead the public.”