Kummanam RajasekharanThe first year of the Left Democratic Front government has proved that Pinarayi Vijayan is an utter failure, says BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan. He tells Onmanorama that the people had been taken for a ride.
How would you evaluate the Left Democratic Front government on the eve of its first anniversary?
The governance in the past year has proved that Pinarayi Vijayan is an utter failure. No achievement has been made anywhere. The government could not bring in progress in any sector. All we saw was the partners in the ruling coalition blaming each other. Moe than 1,75,000 criminal cases have been registered in the past one year.
The list includes murders and robberies. Harassment of dalits, women and children has spiked. Nineteen politically motivated murders were reported in a year. These clearly point to a failure in law and order. The government has failed miserably in maintaining law and order. Kerala is tense with all the fights and murders.
Has any progress been achieved in the agricultural sector?
No. Farmers have not been given the support price yet. Crores of rupees is due to the farmers. They are on the verge of suicide. There is no drinking water. Kerala did nothing despite a warning about a severe drought. There is no point in boasting about projects named Haritha Keralam. If you want to prevent a drought, you have to raise the level of the groundwater. That has to be done during the rainy season.
We are destroying the paddy fields, rivulets and groves. There is extensive encroachment in Munnar. How will we have water if we encroach upon the ecologically fragile Munnar. All our forests have been left to the encroachers. They think might is right.
Buildings with 18 or 19 floors have been constructed on encroached land. There are rules regulating construction because Munnar is an ecologically fragile area. All those rules are being bypassed with the might of power. Such areas experience landslides during the rain.
Two days of rains will cause floods. A drought will follow in the summer. All these had been caused by governments least interested in conservation. The public distribution shops do not have enough stock of rice. The ration cards had not been distributed yet. The Food Corporation of India warehouses are filed with rice. There are more than 2.5 lakh landless people in the state. There are plantations where lease rights have expired. There is surplus land. Still not an inch is being handed over to the landless. Encroachers, on the other hand, get a warm reception.
They are rich. Food, water, land and housing are becoming scarce. Youngsters are not able to find work. They are leaving their houses to find work. There are no new ventures. No industries. Kerala offers no opportunity for youngsters to find a livelihood.
If that is the case, what kind of development are we talking about. What is the state government doing other than implementing the projects funded by the central government?
Railway development is non-existent because the government is not able to acquire land. The central government has offered money to widen the national highway to four-lane or six-lane but the state cannot acquire land. The government cannot develop infrastructure.
Meanwhile, funds are being lapsed. The state has spent only 35 percent of the plan fund of Rs 30,750 crore. Only 47 percent of the central contribution of Rs 6,534 crore was spent. What are we to understand from this? There has been serious lapses in plan implementation. The government could not do anything in any sector.
Where do you think the government fared badly?
Law and order. It is an unbearable situation. The government is not able to protect the lives and properties of the people. What is the point if you can’t live despite having everything? People do not have food, clothes, houses, land and they do not have any protection to their lives. You can’t live in Kerala unless you are a communist.
Don't you see any achievement in any sector in the past year?
Absolutely not. Has a single institution recovered? Has the KSRTC (Kerala State Road Transport Corporation) recovered? Which public sector establishment has recovered? Many institutions have recovered thanks to central intervention.
The Hindustan Organic Chemical Limited was on the verge of closure. Efforts are on to restructure it by granting Rs 1,800 crore. The FACT may also get financial help. Has the LDF government taken any step to bail out any institution? What is the situation in the Travancore Titanium Limited? Every institution is in the red.
The greatest folly of the government was to shift all payments to the treasury. All pensioners are queuing up before the treasuries. And the state government is blaming the center. Why did they have to shift payment to the treasuries.
They want to switch funds. The treasury is empty so they are trying to divert other streams to the treasury. Why can’t they do it through banks. That is how other states are doing. The people do not have to do anything. The money will come to their accounts.
Has the disputes affected the functioning of the government?
Officers are still not cooperating. The chief minister, revenue minister, food minister and everyone else is forever bickering. Nothing is happening. The same situation prevails in the offices. Nothing is happening. Even 10 percent of the files are not moving. Everything is stagnated. The government has antagonized the officers. IAS and IPS officers have been rubbed the wrong way. The government thinks it can tame the officers with a stick. Can they? The times have change but our administration has gone back to feudal ways. The chief minister is an overlord now. There were 19 murders. All of them were poor people. Communism is against feudal lords. What can we do if communists themselves turn overlords?
Are you suggesting that the problems in the administration is because of the arrogant behavior of the chief minister?
The CPM’s fascist face is being revealed through the government's actions. Neither the party nor the government has a people-friendly face. All regressive tendencies are coming back. They are shooing away anyone who is not a Marxist.
This is a kind of untouchability. Political and social realms are ruled by superiors. No officer can work comfortably without obeying to their masters. They will have to arrest RSS workers if they are told so. The secretariat has become the AKG Center and the AKG Center the secretariat.
How do you rate the performance of O Rajagopal, your party's only MLA in Kerala?
He is doing whatever he can. A member cannot introduce a motion in the legislature. He needs support. He can only interfere in debates as of now. They may listen to him. That’s all.
