Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala has termed the observations made by the Kerala High Court while rejecting the writ petition filed by Transport Minister Thomas Chandy in the backwater encroachment case as a slap on the face of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who stood solidly behind the tainted Minister.
Talking to media persons at Kozhinjampara near here on the sidelines of his Padayorukkam Yatra on Tuesday, Mr. Chennithala said the court observation that the Ministry lacked collective responsibility reflected the degeneration in the ruling dispensation.
‘‘The Chief Minister remained idle when one of his Cabinet colleagues approached the court against his own government. The court observation that the Minister had lost trust in the Chief Minister and the government is very serious,’’ he said.
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Stating that the UDF would not allow Mr. Chandy to continue in power, Mr. Chennithala alleged that the Chief Minister had shown disrespect to the court by not demanding the resignation of the Minister even in the face of harsh criticism from the judges. Mr. Chennithala accused the Chief Minister of remaining fearful before the money power of the Transport Minister.
Referring to the clean chit given by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) to Administrative Reforms Committee chairman V.S. Achuthanandan’s son V.A. Arun Kumar in the IHRD case, Mr. Chennithala said the LDF government had weakened the investigating agency in a way facilitating escape routes for its leaders and their kin.
‘‘The VACB is headless and the government is taking no effort to revamp it. It was only recently that it gave clean chit to former minister E.P. Jayarajan. The agency is not doing any anti-corruption drive now,’’ he alleged.
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The Opposition leader opposed the government move to lay pipeline from Malampuzha reservoir to Kinfra industrial park at Kanjikode for diverting drinking and irrigation water for industrial purpose. He also accused the government of remaining inactive in periodic review of inter-State water accords to protect the interests of Kerala farmers, especially those in the traditional rice-bowl of Palakkad. He had also demanded steps to end drinking water scarcity in eastern Attappady.