Just bluster, says Chennithala

Chennithala says CM is all bluster and no action

Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala on Monday contested the “tall claim” of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had achieved its aims with one more year left for its term to expire.

He dismissed Mr. Vijayan’s statement as mere bluster and attempted to punch holes in the “long list of accomplishments touted by the government” on its fourth anniversary.

In reality, the government had in four years acquired a rap sheet. Nepotism, corruption, extravagance, pilfering of flood relief funds, PSC and university examination fraud by Students Federation of India leaders, State-backed political murders, and authoritarianism characterised the LDF rule.

The government had failed to rebuild Kerala after the floods. It was yet to compensate those who had lost their homes and livelihood in the deluge. Mr. Chennithala asked Mr. Vijayan to point out the “new Kerala” he claimed to have forged in four years. Civic works had ground to a halt. The treasury was bone dry and could not repay contractors.

The Chief Minister portrayed routine functions of the government, such as relaying roads and building bridges, as the fulfilment of the LDF manifesto. Plan fund utilisation had plummeted.

Mr. Vijayan had announced a ₹2,000-crore package for fishers struck by the Ockhi cyclone in 2017. “What has come of it?,” he asked.

The people of Kerala had combated COVID-19. Mr. Vijayan, propped by image burnishers, was now claiming the collective success of the State as his own.

The Chief Minister had used the COVID-19 news briefing, a government platform, to denigrate the Opposition and indulge in partisan politics. He did not accord the United Democratic Front a right of reply.

The Chief Minister claimed to have wiped out hunger. But the Child Welfare Committee had found that children in the capital ate mud for food. Its chairman lost his job for shining a light on the harsh truth. The quixotic projects of Finance Minister Thomas Isaac had ruined the State’s finances. Tax collection had taken a beating.

The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board remained a non-starter. Kerala was caught in a mounting debt trap. Its vital sectors, including agriculture, had registered negative growth.

Dr. Isaac juggled figures and misrepresented facts to paint a rosy picture of the State’s finances. The people had realised that the LDF had pulled the wool over their eyes. They would wreak their vengeance on the ruling LDF soon.