Tamil Nadu

Rift in LDF widening over Golf Club issue

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The rift in the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Ministry over handling of the Golf Club issue is widening with the failure of a meeting between Kerala Chief Minister V. S. Achuthanandan and Communist Party of India (CPI) Ministers on Saturday.

As the Chief Minister and Law Minister M. Vijayakumar categorically rejected the CPI’s demand for withdrawal of the affidavit filed by the Law Department contradicting certain points in the earlier affidavit filed by Principal Secretary (Revenue) Nivedita P. Haran, the Revenue Department is considering filing a counter.

Accordingly, Dr. Haran may file a fresh affidavit this week, especially against the background of the court seeking additional details on the circumstances relating to the issue of orders for the takeover of the Trivandrum Golf Club.

While Dr. Haran had filed her affidavit through her lawyer, the Under Secretary of the Law Department had filed the affidavit on behalf of the government, stating facts of the case differently.

This snowballed into a major issue with the Chief Minister and the Law Minister backing the Law Department and the Revenue Minister and the CPI backing the stand of the Principal Secretary.

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