CPI meet says Kerala govt's image bad, may face poll backlash

Thiruvananthapuram: The CPI  -– the second largest partner left combine that is in power in Kerala -- has said that the LDF government in Kerala could face electoral pushback as the ministry's image has been tarnished.

Speaker after speaker, at CPI's state council meeting, even criticised Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's style of functioning.

The image deficit will not be corrected with the Cabinet's proposed Assembly tour. They believe the combine would suffer a huge setback in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. 

Criticizing the style of the Chief Minister, the CPI leaders said that he lacked simplicity. Travelling in a convoy of 50 cars is wrong, a speaker pointed out. Moreover, the Chief Minister’s explanation over the alleged kickbacks that his daughter received was not good.

“The media shouldn’t be blamed for the mess. There is no point in continuing without correcting the government’s mistakes,” the CPI office-bearers said. They also said that the government has done no good during the past two-and-a-half years.

The speakers also targeted CPI ministers and alleged that nothing was happening in their offices. “Two ministers – those holding Revenue and Agriculture portfolios – are never present in their respective offices. There is a general impression that they are idle,” said the CPI leader Mankode Radhakrishnan.

Another leader Ajith Kolady alleged that the government was immersed in corruption. “The government is controlled by the land-quarry mafia. A corporate mafia is deciding things,” he said.

Kolady also found faults with the Assembly tour planned by the government. “The Chief Minister will be meeting noted figures in each constituency. What is the need to hold discussions with them? It was the common people who voted the government to power,” he pointed out.

Kolady advised the CPI leadership to adopt the stand of Vidura while Panchali was being disrobed in the epic Mahabharata. “The government and the party are now being disrobed. CPI shouldn’t adopt the attitude of the Pandavas, who remained silent. It should be Vidura, who raised his voice against injustice,” he said.