VS cries foul at Sonia being called to launch programme

September 28, 2013 02:58 am | Updated June 02, 2016 03:40 pm IST - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:

Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan has asked the State government to cancel its plan to have its ‘Zero Landless Programme’ inaugurated by Sonia Gandhi, “who is only the president of the Congress party.”

In a statement here on Friday, he said the plan to have this programme launched by Sonia Gandhi at a big function here on Monday was the latest of similar actions the Oommen Chandy government had been indulging in for political propaganda using the exchequers’ money.

“Ms. Sonia Gandhi does not have any official position in the Central government…

‘Impropriety’

“One can understand it if either the Prime Minister or any of the Union Minister comes here for the purpose. It is a gross impropriety and a serious violation of procedures to call the Congress party president to launch the scheme. It cannot be accepted under any circumstance,” Mr. Achuthanandan said.

He alleged that the Congress, which headed the United Democratic Front (UDF) government in the State, was imposing a heavy financial liability on the people of the State for its political propaganda.

Expenses

“There are heavy expenses involved in bringing Ms. Sonia Gandhi by special aeroplane from Delhi to the State, providing her top security and having the whole affair advertised.

“I am informed that a high-level meeting at the Revenue Minister’s official chamber last Monday had taken a decision to release big advertisements in all the leading newspapers in the State on the day of the launching of the programme by the Congress president…. In fact, this programme is conceived as the launch of the election campaign of the UDF and the Congress in Kerala,” Mr. Achuthanandan said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.