The Hindu : Kerala News : Government trying to help spirit lobby: Sudheeran

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Thursday, Jan 18, 2007
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Kerala

Government trying to help spirit lobby: Sudheeran

Staff Reporter

Says goonda Act has been diluted for this purpose

ALAPPUZHA: The Left Democratic Front Government has diluted the goonda Act by exempting certain `Abkari' crimes from its purview to help the spirit lobby, the senior Congress leader V.M. Sudheeran said here on Wednesday.

Inaugurating a dharna organised by the District Congress Committee (DCC) here, Mr. Sudheeran said the ordinance brought out by the previous United Democratic Front Government was cancelled and a new ordinance issued diluting the gravity of Abkari crimes. While distilling of country liquor was considered a crime under the present goonda Act, spirit trade, a more serious offence, was excluded.

He said the Government was learnt to have asked the police to prepare a list of goondas (anti-social elements) in the State, excluding those who had relations with the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

Mr. Sudheeran said the State had deteriorated to "goons own country" under the present Government. While the CPI(M) State unit was busy convening meetings of party's area and State committees and State secretariat every other day to solve its internal problems, the Ministers were not finding time to run the administration.

He said faction fighting in the CPI(M) had spilled over to roads and had become a law-and-order problem. The public had witnessed the ugly face of factionalism at Muhamma in Alappuzha and Nilambur in Malappuram district recently.

He said Ministers should stop criticising officials and make them do work. "But even the Ministers are not aware of what is happening in the administration."

He said Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan was in a predicament, as the Ministers were not cooperating with him and CPI(M) State secretary

Pinarayi Vijayan was acting as super chief minister. The party leadership should realise that it could not continue to rule the State with fascist policies, suppressing whoever dared to criticise it.

DCC president C.R. Jayaprakash presided over the function. Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee secretary Johnson Abraham; DCC vice-president Koshy M. Koshy; and DCC secretaries A.A. Shukkor, Abey Kuriakkose, P. Narayanan Kutty and M.M. Bashir spoke.

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