Reiterating his stand that the Aruvikkara Assembly by-election would be a referendum on the last four years of his government, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said that it would not be surprising if the Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) ended up in the third place in the by-poll.
Mr. Chandy told a news conference here on Thursday that he was confident that the voters of Aruvikkara would fully endorse the actions of the government on the development front as also on the allegations levelled against it by the Opposition and give a fitting reply to the obstructive strategies adopted by them. The Opposition camp is in the grip of anxiety and confusion, he said and added that the government would utilise the approval that he expected from the government to chart a new course during the remaining part of its tenure.
The Chief Minister claimed that no government in the State’s history had shown the courage to probe all Opposition charges. It had ordered a judicial inquiry into the solar issue, a Vigilance investigation as demanded by Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan into the bar bribery charges and a CBI investigation into the corruption charges relating conduct of the National Games. All these investigations and inquiries had vindicated the government stand that there was no wrong doing. In the solar issue, the allegation was based on a letter purported to have been written on his letter head.
The first verdict in the related cases had proved that neither he nor his office had done anything wrong. In the bar bribery issue, evidence was taken from around 350 persons, but none of them came up with any evidence to support the charges against Finance Minister K.M. Mani. The charges raised by the Opposition on the National Games, bringing infamy to the entire State, had been proved totally false in the CBI investigation. The government ordered for the investigations because it was confident that there was no wrong doing on any of these issues, he said.
The Opposition leader, he alleged, had launched a vicious attack on a leader of such stature as A.K. Antony only because the Opposition had nothing substantial to say against the government. It only showed his intolerance and his double standards on the question of corruption. Although he had raised corruption charges against the government, he did not think that an investigation was necessary into the charges against former Industries Minister Elamaram Karim in connection with Malabar Cements Limited. His stand was the same when there was a demand for a probe against his son, he pointed out.
