Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) organising secretary E.T. Mohammed Basheer has warned the people of Kerala that they would have to suffer the worst if the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government led by Pinarayi Vijayan is given a chance to come back to power.
“The country is going through a critical phase with fascist agenda being imposed on the nation. The LDF-BJP link in implementing this fascist-communal agenda has come to light. If Kerala cannot resist it now, it will have to pay a heavy price,” Mr. Basheer told The Hindu .
In a candid chat, the IUML leader said that it would be a disaster for the State. “The LDF government has been trying to appease people by reaching out to them with emotional things like food kits, even while neglecting wide areas of major, fundamental issues. The entire State’s development is at stake now,” he said.
High corruption
Mr. Basheer said that the State had plunged into depths of corruption like never before. “None of the corruption issues raised by Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala was found false. The government had to admit them all sooner or later. The government is trying to blind people by creating a false narrative in which it is Enforcement Directorate vs Kerala government,” he said.
Mr. Basheer, who was former Education Minister of Kerala, said that nothing worthwhile was done to take the State ahead in higher education in the last five years.
“The government has realised that the people of Kerala would be happy with the flippant, facile things they do as well as the emotional exercises they make,” he said.
According to Mr. Basheer, the LDF has succeeded in spreading a lot of false things. “Look at the State’s development scene. The Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) is a failure. Its accountability has been questioned. And the government continues to show an indifferent attitude,” he said.
He said the facilities the State currently enjoy were the result of the previous UDF government. “We implemented many development projects. And the LDF in the last five years was busy scuttling them all.”
PSC issue
He criticised the LDF for its shameless handling of the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the youth. “The credibility of the PSC has been shattered. They (the government) threw all norms to the winds by giving permanence to temporary appointments. Thus, by giving jobs to unqualified people, they were harming the State in an unexplainable manner,” the IUML leader said. Mr. Basheer said that the LDF government toed the line of the Centre by working against the traditional fishing people.
“They were trying to help the big shots.”
He blamed the government for trying to create an eye-wash through advertisement blitzkriegs. “They failed miserably in handling crises. Through advertisements, they were trying to cover their failures,” he said.
The IUML leader said that the LDF government had badly managed such disasters as Ockhi and the floods of 2018 and 2019. “Even the way the government handled COVID-19 was shoddy. In order to gain global attention, they resorted to publicity stunts unheard of in the State’s history.”
