Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said on Friday that he had no liaison with Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan, and was not banking on defections from the Opposition.
The Chief Minister was addressing a meet-the-press programme organised by the Kesari Journalists Trust here. Mr. Chandy denied that the government was going slow on cases against Mr. Achuthanandan and his son. Whether it was regarding political murders or corruption cases, he was not for vindictive politics. “I believe it is wrong to use power for settling political scores. However, any challenge to rule of law will be resisted.”
He said that murders of political activists, including those of DYFI and SFI leaders, were being investigated without bias. If anyone was dissatisfied with the results of investigations, the government was willing to issue orders for investigations to their satisfaction. The murder of BJP leader Jayakrishnan Master would be reinvestigated if there was fresh evidence and favourable legal opinion.
He said the leave application of Vinson M. Paul, who is heading the investigation into the murder of T.P. Chandrasekharan, would be considered in a manner that would not affect the investigations.
The investigation team were arresting those who were directly involved in the murder. It would now be probing involvement of others in the conspiracy. He was hoping that political bigwigs were not involved. However, real culprits would not be spared. Moral policing would be strongly dealt with.
Rajya Sabha elections
The Chief Minister said the Rajya Sabha elections posed no headache for the ruling Front. The Congress candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat would be decided by the party High Command.
Mr. Chandy recalled that the Opposition had claimed that the UDF was resorting to horse trading when its member in the Assembly R. Selvaraj resigned the seat and party membership and joined the ruling Front. However, it was the Opposition which was trying to do horse trading. By fielding a second candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat, the Opposition was hoping to bag votes of sitting members of the UDF. However, it would be badly disappointed.
He said team spirit was behind the success of the UDF government. There had been no quarrel or disputes among the Ministers.
Waste management
He accepted criticism about the failure to address the solid waste management problem, but the government now had a clear view as to how to handle it. Facilities had been set up for separating plastic from the waste and Rs.100 crore had been set apart for decentralised waste management. Treatment plants proposed on new technology was proposed to be set up. The people of Vilappilsala should have accepted the technology. Unfortunately, they did not, and it could not be forced on people. There had been delay in allotting land to tribespeople owing to problems in acquisition of land.
The government had taken a decision to appoint 549 persons who were awaiting appointments under dying-in-harness scheme for long. Their appointment would not affect the prospects of those on PSC rank lists as supernumerary posts were being created for the appointments.
