Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president V.D. Satheesan has alleged that the Left Democratic Front government is “very generous” towards the RP Group, Harrisons Malayalam Plantations, Believers Church, and lottery businessman Santiago Martin.
He was here on Thursday to inaugurate the birth centenary celebrations of Gandhian Kaumudi Teacher.
“We all know that Kaumudi Teacher donated her gold ornaments for the uplift of the downtrodden. The State government in Kerala too is donating several things, not to the poor, but to business groups,” Mr. Satheesan said.
The Congress leader claimed that the decision to hand over the Halcyon Castle at Kovalam on lease to RP Group was the result of a “deal” between the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the business group before the 2016 Assembly polls.
“They are citing a Supreme Court order to justify the donation. The court never pronounced a verdict on the ownership of the palace. It asked the government to file a civil suit, which did not happen. The meaningful silence observed by some people in this context should be seen as abetment of the crime,” he said.
He also criticised the decision to take over the Cheruvally estate in Pathanamthitta from the Believers Church district to build an airport.
The Congress leader claimed that the Church bought that land from Harrisons Group, who had illegally kept it with themselves even after the expiry of the lease with the government. “By this deal, the church will get huge financial benefits in the form of compensation from the government. For the Harrisons Group, it will help regularise their illegal custody of government land,” he alleged.
The fourth person who was benefiting from the largesse of the government, he claimed, was Mr. Martin. Mr. Satheesan alleged that the lottery mafia would manipulate their accounts and the government would not be able to take action against them.
“The government is claiming that because of the high rate of Goods and Service Tax in accordance with the turnover, the lottery mafia will not be able to operate here. They will reduce their turnover in the account books to fool the officials,” he added.
