The Revenue Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrisnan on Sunday dismissed the allegations of conflict over the UDF candidate at the Neyyattinkara seat left vacant by former CPI(M) representative R. Selvaraj and said the party had an established machinery and process for the selection of candidates. “The selection will be finalized once the Election Commission of India notified the bye-election. The High Command will decide on the candidate,” he said without being drawn into a controversy over the reported statement in a section of the press by former KPCC(I) president K Muraleedharan.
Reacting to a question, Mr Radhakrishnan said the government had completed all formalities to move against those encroachers who were still holding on to their illegally grabbed property in Munnar. “I am not giving out their names in advance since that would give them a chance to exploit legal loopholes to maintain the status quo,” he said.
Mr Radhakrishnan took serious exception to the reported statement by the Opposition Leader V S Achuthanandan, attributing ‘ulterior motives’ in the conduct of ‘Surakshayanam 2012’, the international workshop on disaster management.
The workshop was the first of its kind in India and was attended by internationally acclaimed expert on disaster management. Senior leaders including Kodiyeri Balakrishnan (CPI-M) C Divakaran (CPI) and O Rajagopal (BJP) had attended the workshop. “That the Opposition Leader could cite ulterior motives which none of these leaders could not find, points to a deliberate attempt to malign the efforts on the part of the UDF government to make a purposeful step in the area of disaster management,” he said.
Mr Radhakrishnan said the ‘Thiruvananthapuram Declaration’ made at the conclusion of the workshop, while omitted any direct reference to the Mullaperiyar issue, would be the basic document while dealing with such issues in future. The presentation by A K Gosain, professor, department of Civil Engineering, IIT Delhi too had mentioned about the need to construct a new dam at Mullaperiyar as one of the ways out.
The other was to lower the water level at the reservoir.
“Any personal statement made by the expert would have no bearing on the outcome of the deliberations at the workshop,” Mr Radhakrishnan said.
