CPI(M) should be more responsible: Sudheeran

Says allegations by bar owners have created divide in the Left party

KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran honouring freedom fighter Balusseri Nagappan Nair at a meeting at the Kozhikode DCC office on Monday during his Janapaksha Yatra. Photo: K Ragesh

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] should show more responsibility on the issue of allegations raised by bar owners against the Finance Minister, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president V.M. Sudheeran has said.

He said the bar owners, through their baseless allegations, had misled the CPI (M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF). In fact, the issue had divided them with one side seeking for a CBI probe and the other demanding a court-monitored inquiry.

Not against probe

The government was not against any inquiry.

But in totality, the development had put the Opposition in a spot. If the bar owners had any evidence pertaining to any corruption that had taken place, they should come out with proof, he added.

Mr. Sudheeran was speaking during an interaction programme with the media before starting the State-wide Janapaksha Yatra led by him in the district on Monday.

Differences of opinion

Replying to queries, he said the United Democratic Front (UDF) would look into the differences of opinion among the coalition partners vis-à-vis Chief Whip P.C. George alleging that the bar hotel owners had collected Rs.15 crore for renewing bar licence.

He said that the State government had envisaged a liquor-free policy for the welfare of the society.

“Ultimately it will be a victory for the government,” he said, when asked whether the court had put a spoke in the wheel of the government’s skewed policies.

SC directive

He also referred to the Supreme Court directive that asked the courts to limit their intervention only to government policy decisions that they found arbitrary and was against the basic tenets of the Constitution.

Policies for the good of the people should be left to the discretion of the Executive and the Legislature, the KPCC president said.

He said that Janapaksha Yatra was aimed at making the people aware of the evils plaguing the Kerala society such as substance abuse, violence, communalism and underdevelopment.

The Yatra covered the rural regions and mofussil towns including Balussery, and Vadakara in the district on Monday.

Receptions will also be accorded to the Yatra at Koyilandy, Kakkodi, and Feroke on Tuesday.