The Hindu : Cabinet decision: no unanimity, says Gangadharan

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Saturday, Sep 07, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala

Cabinet decision: no unanimity, says Gangadharan

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM SEPT. 6. The Congress Legislature Party deputy leader, M. P. Gangadharan, today alleged that there was no unanimity in the Cabinet decision to withdraw the power tariff hike.

Talking to presspersons here, Mr. Gangadharan said that the divergent views expressed by Cabinet Ministers on the power tariff revision were unfortunate. He said that the Cabinet had unanimously passed the tariff hike, but later several Ministers had expressed opinions against the hike. "This is not a healthy practice in a Cabinet system,'' he said.

Mr. Gangadharan said that the attempts to isolate the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, in raising power tariff rates would not be tolerated. Some of the Ministers, particularly those belonging to the Congress, very conveniently and meaningfully remained silent all through the violent stir called by the Opposition parties. After the horses bolted, many of them such as the Finance Minister, K. Sankaranarayanan, and the Cultural Affairs Minister, G. Karthikeyan, displayed the alacrity to defend him.

When asked about the four-member delegation's petition to the Chief Minister, Mr. Gangadharan said that the delegation, of which he was a member, had only sought to bring to the Chief Minister's notice the strong popular reaction to the power tariff hike, besides urging him to review the decision in view of the agitations.

He said that there was nothing wrong in Mr. Karunakaran's responses to the power tariff hike. He had every right to express his opinion if he felt that the UDF government was imposing a huge burden on the common man.

In reply to another question, Mr. Gangadharan said that the reforms in the KSEB should be implemented immediately. The Government should not hesitate to even privatise the KSEB if it was necessary in order to save the board from collapsing, he added.

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Cabinet decision: no unanimity, says Gangadharan