THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The UDF will not demand the resignation of general education minister V Sivankutty in connection with the Assembly bedlam case, said Opposition Leader VD Satheesan.
The Left government has been in a spot as the Supreme Court took strong exception to vandalism by five CPM MLAs, including current education minister V Sivankutty, in the Kerala Assembly in 2015. While hearing the state government's petition seeking to withdraw criminal cases against the MLAs, the apex court had made clear that such conduct by legislators cannot be condoned. Following the SC remarks, the Opposition UDF had come down heavily on the government.
Satheesan, however, took a dig at the LDF for coming out with a lame stand in defending former finance minister KM Mani over the issue.
Satheesan asked Kerala Congress chairman Jose K Mani not to forget the earlier stand by the LDF when they opposed KM Mani presenting the budget. He was talking to reporters here at a meeting organised by the Kerala Union of Working Journalists.
A day after LDF convener A Vijayaraghavan placated Jose K Mani after the state counsel termed KM Mani a 'corrupt finance minister' before the Supreme Court on Monday, Satheesan criticised the stand taken by Jose K Mani. He recalled how the same crop of LDF leaders alleged that Mani had currency counting machines at home.
Tree felling issue: Govt taking revenge
Satheesan blamed the LDF government for not taking any action against the former forest and revenue ministers in the Muttil tree felling, despite having strong evidence against them.
“The principal secretary (revenue) deliberately asked a woman official in the rank of undersecretary to go on leave for providing information on the basis of a RTI application. On Wednesday, another additional secretary in the same department was transferred from the Secretariat. The LDF government is resorting to taking revenge against those officials who have been highlighting their wrong doings through RTI," said Satheesan.
Discrepancies in Covid deaths
The Opposition Leader who has been relentlessly highlighting the discrepancies in the COVID-19 death toll rates urged the LDF government to come out with accurate statistics since last December.
"Why is the state government not revealing the exact death toll? The local bodies, state government, district administration and expert committees come out with different numbers when the actual figures are those revealed by doctors. As Opposition Leader, I have never criticised the LDF government, but highlighted the discrepancies in the COVID-19 death toll," added Satheesan.
Regarding the Vadakara heist case, Satheesan said the investigation is going at a snail’s pace and alleged a tacit understanding between the CPM and BJP.