THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With bargate hanging like a Damocle’s sword over the Oommen Chandy government, the opposition is planning to go all out to expose the alleged corruption of finance minister K. M. Mani through a high-voltage campaign.
The LDF is planning to go for a door-to-door campaign covering every household in the constituency with the long list of charge sheet against the UDF government including the serious allegations of corruption and trading of budget against Mani. Besides bar bribe case, the LDF also intends to raise the solar fraud case focusing on the alleged involvement of the chief minister and his office.
The opposition has also decided to raise the development issue in a big way. According to LDF candidate M. Vijayakumar, no development activities worth the name had taken place in Aruvikkara in the recent years.
Even for basic infrastructure facilities like roads, the local people had to resort to indefinite agitation including the unprecedented march to the then Speaker late G. Karthekeyan’s official residence.
The opposition believes that the issue of neglect of the constituency during five terms of the UDF, from 1991 to 2006 in the erstwhile Aryanad and during 2011 in Aruvikkara constituency (after delimitation), would find considerable support among the voters.
Though the Left camp is wary of the sympathy factor should M. T. Sulekha contest as the UDF candidate, it is hopeful of making it a tight contest raising people’s issues and corruption in public life.
Meanwhile, the CPM state secretariat on Friday endorsed M. Vijayakumar’s candidature and even issued an official release.
The CPM going public with Vijayakumar’s name ahead of the LDF state committee meeting came as a surprise. In normal course, it is the LDF which formally announces the candidate.
