Wednesday, Apr 30, 2003
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Kerala
By Our Special Correspondent
Inaugurating the 40th State conference of the Kerala NGO Union here this evening, Mr. Vijayan said the Opposition did not believe in unseating the UDF Government through conspiracies, but added that in the event of the Government falling on account of contradictions within the ruling front, the Opposition would not rush in crying `don't fall!' Branding Mr. Antony as `the cruelest Chief Minister to rule the State', the CPI(M) State secretary said he had been using the UDF's brute majority in the Assembly to indulge in repressive measures against all those who raised their voice against his Government. The brutal attack on the Adivasis, molestation of an adivasi woman while in custody and the attacks on the former Finance Minister, T. Sivadasa Menon, and four CPI(M) MPs on March 17 were all proof for this, he said. Mr. Vijayan accused the UDF Government of having done little to improve the lot of the people during the last two years. "The UDF could not take the State even an inch forward and the Chief Minister was now trying to escape blame for his Government's failure accusing the Opposition of trying to upset the Government. But how can 40 people upset a Government that had the backing of 100 people,'' he asked. The CPI(M) leader pointed out that the crisis in Congress over Rajya Sabha nominations showed how unreal the claims about his democratic character was. The LDF could have won only one seat and the LDF decided that the CPI(M) should contest the seat. The party was able to arrive at an unanimous choice. On the contrary, the Congress could not agree on two nominees and that saw the Chief Minister himself playing dirty tricks against the seniormost Congress leader, K. Karunakaran. He alleged that even religious heads had intervened in the Congress squabbles and threatened some MLAs into submission. This could not have happened without the knowledge of the Chief Minister. The UDF had come to power taking the help of communal and casteist forces. Its attempt now was to cling on to power with the help such forces and did not mind resorting to any means to achieve its end. The State was paying a heavy price for this and everybody was hoping for the exit of this Government, he added. Mr. Vijayan also accused the Chief Minister of shielding the police despite several instances of attacks on Opposition activists, workers and even media. The Government, he said, had also not done a thing to bail out the traditional industries caught in a deep crisis. Factories owned by the Kerala State Cashew Development Corporation were closed a week after the UDF Government came to power and not even a single one of them had been reopened. It should be remembered that these factories had functioned for up to 200 days when the LDF was in power, he said. The former Speaker, M. Vijayakumar, offered felicitations.
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