THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ruling CPI(M) in Kerala on Sunday slammed Union Minister V Muraleedharan, who has been campaigning against the Left government's ambitious SilverLine project and said his opposition was against the federal principles of the country.
The CPI(M) said the land survey for the K-Rail project was initiated after receiving an in-principle nod from the central government and even the Supreme Court has permitted it to go ahead with the social impact assessment process for the proposed project, which is facing massive protests in the state.
"Recently, in Thiruvananthapuram, the union minister campaigned against the project which was approved in-principle by the Centre. The irony is that a union minister is campaigning against a development project allowed by the Supreme Court," the ruling party in Kerala said in a statement.
On Saturday, Muraleedharan's campaign against the state government's flagship project saw a twist as a family in the state capital publicly endorsed the rail corridor and informed him that they have no problem in parting with their land for the same even though he repeatedly tried to explain to them its 'drawbacks'.
"The interference by Muraleedharan is against the federal principles of the country," the CPI(M) state secretariat claimed.
"The state is now witnessing an unusual situation in which a union minister who is supposed to take a proactive stand for the development of the state, is opposing it. The protest against the minister shows that the people in Kerala will oppose such a narrow mindset," it said.
The protests by the Congress-led UDF and the BJP were an indication that the two fronts are standing against the developmental prospects of the state, it alleged.
The Left party also targetted the central government over its fuel pricing policy and said the fuel prices in the country are skyrocketing.
"Now the price of Kerosene has been increased by Rs 22. Instead of interfering in such issues, the BJP is torpedoing the developmental prospects of the state and Muraleedharan's intervention is part of it," CPI(M) said.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had rejected the state-wide protests against the ambitious project and said people would receive compensation twice the market price for their acquired land.
The opposition parties are staging protests in Kerala over the SilverLine project by uprooting the survey stones laid at various places.
However, the Left government is going forward with the SilverLine project in the state which it had promised to the people in its election manifesto despite opposition and the CPI(M) and the government has said that the worries of those who may be affected will be heard.
The SilverLine project would cover a 530-kilometre stretch from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasaragod in the state and would be developed by K-Rail, a joint venture of the Kerala government and the Ministry of Railways.
The semi high-speed rail line will have 11 stations with an estimated cost of around Rs.64,000 crores.
The project aims to ease transportation along the entire north-south length of Kerala and reduce the total travel time to less than 4 hours, compared with the present 12-14 hours.