The differences of opinion between the main constituents of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the CPI, have complicated affairs in the already beleaguered agriculture sector of the State, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Ramesh Chennithala has said.
Inaugurating a one-day workshop organized by the Kerala Karshaka Congress district unit here on Saturday, Mr. Chennithala said the rifts between the CPI (M) and the CPI had also impaired the procurement of copra in the State. Any decision taken by the Agriculture Minister, who is from the CPI, would be sabotaged by the Finance Minister, who was from the CPI (M), Mr. Chennithala alleged, adding that this was why copra farmers did not get any profits despite assistance from the Centre.
Stating that the LDF Government had so far nothing but controversies as its achievements, the KPCC president alleged that there were no effective interventions by the State Government to increase agricultural productivity or to protect and encourage paddy cultivation.
Also accusing the State of failing to implement with sincerity the Idukki and Kuttanad packages, Mr. Chennithala said the Centre’s waiver of agricultural loans to the tune of Rs.72,000 crore had not benefited farmers in Kerala because of the anti-Centre stance of the LDF Government.
The Congress would launch a mass agitation against the anti-people policies of the LDF from April 20, he added.
K.C. Venugopal, MP, A.A. Shukoor, MLA, Karshaka Congress State chief Lal Varghese Kalpakavadi, UDF district chairman C.R. Jayaprakash, Mahila Congress State chairperson Shanimol Usman and others also spoke.