: Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said here on Thursday that the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which claimed to be a party of workers, was now taking up the cudgels for bar owners.
Addressing an election campaign, Mr. Chandy said there was a time when the CPI(M) used to fight for the rights of workers, but now its leaders seem to waging a struggle for the cause of bar owners. This could be gauged from the statements of the CPI(M) leaders on its liquor policy, he said. The Chief Minister said the objective of the UDF liquor policy was total prohibition in the State within 10 years. However, CPI(M) leaders were playing hide-and-seek on the issue. They had attempted to collude with bar owners to bring down an elected government.
"Government has people's support"
Bar owners might have faced economic loss following the closure of bars. But the support of the people was with the government, Mr. Chandy said.
The UDF government had brought overall growth and development in the State. The Opposition parties had indulged in cheap controversies as they had no political issues. The CPI(M)’s anti-BJP outlook was only for namesake. It had failed to align with the secular parties in the Bihar Assembly polls. The CPI(M)’s anti-Congress attitude at the national level had resulted in the BJP’s growth, Mr. Chandy said.
The Chief Minister who was in the district for election campaign had to face the ire of some Congress workers who were against the nomination of KPCC general secretary N. Subramanian in the Koyilandy Assembly segment. A section of the workers had earlier rooted for the candidature of another KPCC general secretary K.P. Anilkumar.
Similarly, the Indian Union Muslim League activists complained that they had not been officially informed about the candidature of Congress leader T. Siddique in Kunnamangalam. The Congress had swapped the Balussery (reserved constituency) with the Kunnamangalam seat of the IUML. Mr. Chandy also visited the family of the IT engineer Regi Joseph, who was abducted by a militia group in Libya, at Koorachundu.