THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In an apparent reply to Congress state president K Sudhakaran, who had said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was eyeing a five percent commission from the SilverLine project, Education Minister V Sivankutty said on Sunday said the allegation was borne out of Sudhakaran’s personal experience.
“He can’t be blamed for the remarks as it’s quite natural for him to think about commission whenever the state talks about a new project. It comes out of his experience,” the minister said. He also reminded the Congress state chief that Pinarayi is not a leader who was parachuted into the chief minister’s post. “The allegation that Pinarayi Vijayan has looted the state over the past five years by collecting commissions for various projects is equal to spitting on the faces of people who elected him to power for a second consecutive term,” Sivankutty said.
The Congress has a tradition of indulging in corruption, he alleged. “The poor state of the UPA at the national level is due to its wrongdoings during the first term of the UPA government. Those who constructed the Palarivattom flyover in the model of ‘Panchavadi Palam’, which tells the stinking tale of a deal among politicians, bureaucrats and contractors, should see the Edappal flyover commissioned by the state,” he said. “The KPCC president’s post is not meant to cover up one’s past deeds,” he added.
Flouting Covid curbs CPM plans mega Thiruvathira
T’Puram: Even as the state government imposed strict restrictions to tackle the Omicron variant of coronavirus, including a seven-day compulsory home quarantine for international passengers, CPM will stage a mega Thiruvathira with the participation of over 500 women at Parassala on Tuesday. The group dance is a prelude to the party’s district conference to be held from January 14 to 16.
Apparently, the party is unmindful of the restrictions imposed by the government in the wake of the Omicron threat. The Covid review meeting chaired by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on January 4 had restricted the number of people allowed for indoor programmes to 75 and outdoor functions to 150. The restriction is applicable to weddings, funerals, social, cultural and political functions, said the official release issued after the meeting.