The high-power committee of the United Democratic Front (UDF), which is meeting here on Wednesday to finalise the one-month-long Padayorukkam campaign of Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala from November 1, is expected to hold a preliminary discussion on the strategy for the November 9 special Assembly session that would witness the tabling of the controversial solar scam report of the G. Sivarajan Commission.
The UDF has also convened a meeting of its district conveners for finalising Mr. Chennithala’s campaign against the Union and State governments’ unpopular policies. The coalition leadership has invited presidents of seven District Congress Committees to the meeting. A similar exercise was held in Kozhikode last week with UDF conveners and DCC presidents of seven districts north of Ernakulam participating.
The discussion on the solar scam report will be one of the highlights of Wednesday’s meeting since the tabling of the solar scam report in the Assembly would take place when the campaign would be gathering steam after being flagged off from Uppla in Kasaragod.
The UDF leadership had welcomed the decision to call the Assembly session. Since the contents of the report are not fully known, UDF leaders do not discount possibilities of some disruptions going by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s references to certain portions of the report when he announced a series of actions to be taken based on the commission recommendations.
The meeting will also finalise the slogans and other contents for the campaign. After the Vengara Assembly byelection and the government’s action on the solar scam report, the UDF has apparently changed the focus of its charge on the Left Democratic Front and the CPI(M).
The UDF meeting will also discuss another controversy doing its rounds regarding Transport Minister Thomas Chandy’s alleged encroachment on government land and illegal reclamation of backwaters. The UDF leaders have already demanded the resignation of the Minister who, according to them, had been indicted in the report of the Alappuzha District Collector.
