The Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government might have some tough answering to do when the Assembly reconvenes on Monday after a rain-havoc impelled week-long recess.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition is reportedly poised to haul the ruling front over the coals on a slew of issues. They include the Government's "poor" disaster response, its "dismal" women and child protection record and the "non-viability" of the semi-high-speed railway project, Silverline.
The UDF felt the Government had attempted to heap blame on the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) for "inaccurate" weather warning three years in a row to cover up its recurrent incompetence in climate risk mitigation.
The Opposition felt that Revenue Minister K. Rajan, as in the past, had attempted to whitewash the Government's "disappointing" disaster response in flood-ravaged Kottayam by claiming that the IMD's rain forecast for the district was wide of the mark.
Allegations of pilferage of disaster aid and the seemingly unstoppable cycles of extreme weather, lost lives, flooded homes, washed away crops, evacuation to "crowded" government shelters and "failed" rehabilitation would possibly give an edge to the Opposition's attack in the immediate aftermath of last week's rain havoc.
So might the government's "inadequate" allocation of funds for flood relief and the "poor" living condition in camps.
The UDF would also attempt to dissect the LDF's track record on women welfare. It could weaponise the compelling tale of an unmarried mother whose child born out of wedlock was taken away forcibly and given up to adoption without her consent against the Government.
The UDF could also highlight the "ingrained" misogyny in the SFI as "evinced" in the attack on AISF Dalit woman leader in Mahatma Gandhi University in Kottayam.
The SFI and AISF, reckoned to be sister organisations, had warred on the issue publicly. The rape of a 17-year-old girl student at Kuttiyadi in Kozhikode might also become handy for the UDF to assail the Government on women safety.
The Centre's refusal to give a financial guarantee to the Silverline might prompt the UDF to step its Opposition against the LDF's flagship project. The UDF could also spotlight LDF Independent legislator P. V. Anwar's "long absences" from the House for "private business".
