LDF steeped people in misery: Oppn.

Satheesan says Govt. sacrificed State’s interest in Mullaperiyar issue

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has said the six months of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Governance has sunk the people in misery.

In what amounted to a chargesheet against the second Pinarayi Vijayan Government, Mr. Satheesan said here on Saturday that the Government’s refusal to slash the local levy on fuel and curb inflation was emblematic of its indifference to the travails of common folk and tantamount to tax terrorism.

The skyrocketing fuel prices had upended the family budget. The cost of living had shot up, and household incomes were yet to stabilise post COVID-19. However, the Government offered no hope to citizens. The LDF was on the cusp of hiking bus, water and electricity charges, he said.

The LDF was more focused on muscling through “quixotic” megaprojects such as the Silverline semi high-speed railway to satisfy the craving of the power-drunk administration for monumental schemes as a mark of its governance legacy, Mr. Satheesan said.

The Government had wilfully undercounted COVID-19 deaths to maintain the myth that it had successfully curbed the pandemic. The illegal felling of hundreds of ancient rosewood trees in the forested South Muttil village in Wayanad demonstrated high-level corruption in the LDF Government, Mr. Satheesan said.

The Government had permanently sacrificed the safety, security and peace of mind of 40 lakh people living downstream from Mullaperiyar dam by secretly acceding to the demands of the Tamil Nadu Government, he said.

The Government gave tacit approval to Tamil Nadu to fell 15 trees and clear undergrowth to strengthen the baby dam to further its case in the Supreme Court, raising the water level to a dangerous 152 feet.

Mr. Satheesan said the Government had imperilled the future of students and parents by pushing them from pillar to post for Plus One higher secondary seat. The Education Department could not offer seats even to A-plus students in schools in their taluk.

The adoption row and attack on a Dalit woman student leader by SFI activists belied the LDF’s pro-woman stance. It paid mere lip service to gender justice and renaissance values. In actuality, the LDF’s attitude to women issues would put extreme right-wing parties to shame, Mr. Satheesan said.

The LDF’s climate risk mitigation strategy had dismally failed Kerala for the fourth consecutive year. Rescue and relief in the recent floods were at best belated, he said.