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Kerala
By Our Special Correspondent
``I do not want to say who all are responsible for this. Development can happen here only if it is a common agenda,'' he said at a press conference here today. Mr. Kunhalikutty said the post-Global Investor Meet period in the State had, unfortunately, witnessed a spate of hartals over one issue or the other. "The Global Investor Meet had sent out the message that there is a political consensus on development here. This impression has received a dent,'' he said. The Minister said he could name specific cases of prospective investors now turning doubtful because of what had happened in the State since the Global Investor Meet. "I do not want to disclose the names of these investors, because I am still optimistic of convincing them that the recent developments were but an aberration.'' ``We are adept at making an issue of even a non-issue. Who is bothered whether it is `A' or `B' in power here? Definitely, not the common man,'' he said in an apparent reference to the group rivalries in the Congress, which produced some drama and political uncertainty in the State in the recent weeks, all over a dispute on sharing Rajya Sabha seats. He was asked whether by `A' and `B', he had meant the Chief Minister, A. K. Antony, and the senior Congress leader, K. Karunakaran. "No, no'', he said. "I only meant that the common man is not concerned who is and who is not an MP or an MLA. The people want the State to develop and more jobs for the jobless,'' he said. Mr. Kunhalikutty also had in his mind the tribal occupation of Muthanga forests, police firing and subsequent violent agitations, hartals and bandhs in the State. ``There may be faults on all sides. I will not say that whatever the Government is doing is correct and whatever the Opposition is doing is wrong. Negative attitude, from whichever side it comes, can do little good to the State. I am speaking purely from the angle of creating the right kind of atmosphere for development here. The commitment has to come from all sides,'' he said. To dilute his obvious reference to Congress group rivalries as a dampening factor, he said, "political controversies will always remain confined within the four walls of the political system. However, bandhs and hartals can certainly erode investors' confidence.'' He said the Government was staying focussed on its efforts to implement the Global Investor Meet projects. The Investment Promotion Board, chaired by the Chief Secretary, was doing an effective job of ensuring that no Global Investor Meet project encountered bottlenecks. Asked about his earlier assurance that every project that had emerged through the Global Investor Meet would be discussed in detail with the Opposition before being cleared, he said, "we had called a meeting to discuss this on March 6. It is not the Government's fault if it had to be postponed (because of the LDF agitation over the Muthanga incident then). No more procrastination. Where is the time to waste?'' he asked. Mr. Kunhalikutty, however, added that it did not mean there would be no more discussions with the Opposition. "We will definitely do it,'' he said.
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