Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan has asked the government to cancel the Emerging Kerala summit scheduled to be held in Kochi from September 12 to 14.
Mr. Achuthanandan told a news conference here on Wednesday that there was ‘absolute chaos’ in the organisation of the summit. The Chief Minister was on record that all the projects showcased on the official website were subject to review by the Chief Secretary and that projects that faced strident opposition would be taken off the list of projects to be presented at the summit.
Simultaneously, the Industries Minister has stated that several of the projects featured on the website are being pulled out and the Revenue Minister is on record that his department would not part with revenue land. All this raised the question who had prepared the projects, who had cleared them, and who had presented the project proposals before the potential investors. Has the entire summit been given out on lease? Was there someone other than the government behind the projects? These were all the serious misgivings about the nature of the projects to be discussed by the summit, the Opposition leader said.
Mr. Achuthanandan said the Chief Minister was yet to reply to his letter seeking details of the projects. Information available so far seemed to suggest that it was meant only as a huge real estate deal and chosen officers had been put in charge of the summit for the purpose. “It is complete anarchy that prevails in the name of Emerging Kerala. As such, what the government should do is to call it off,” the Opposition leader said and added that the best course of action would be to chalk out projects that Kerala needs and which are feasible and conduct an inquiry and fix responsibility for the projects that have already been finalised.
Replying to a question, Mr. Achuthanandan said there need be no doubt about the Opposition Left Democratic Front’s decision to boycott the business summit.
