Act strict on graft, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan tells LDF government

Kochi: CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Monday said the state government needed to intervene more effectively to stop corruption in different departments. Addressing media here, he said the party state committee also felt that the government was making an effective intervention through a slew of initiatives like Navjeevan, Vimukti, Harithakeralam, hi-tech classrooms, Aardram and projects under the KIIFB. He said it'd be good if the High Court issued directions for the efficient functioning of vigilance.

He also said certain elements were hell-bent on destabilising the Pinarayi Government which needed to be alert on it. He said the party was not of the opinion that the entire police force is weak. “If so the priest involved in the Kottiyoor case would not have been arrested just before his departure from the Cochin airport. In some cases the police were slow in acting,” he said and added that in Jisha case the police failed to act during UDF tenure properly. “Many of the cases now surfacing took place during the UDF tenure,” he said.

He cited the resignation of A. K. Saseendran as an example of the prompt LDF action on such issues. “The resignation is not an admission of guilt but to uphold high moral grounds,” Mr Balakrishnan said and added NCP would decide his successor and the CPM will not interfere with it. He also said that time was not ripe to discuss the return of E. P. Jayarajan to the ministry. He pointed out that the government was prompt in acting on the SSLC question paper leak by ordering a retest.

On Munnar, he said the encroachment before 1977 was different from what took place after that which are illegal, and the party is for action on such issues. He also said VS was not the lone person who spoke against illegal encroachments in Munnar. He also said secularism was at the test in Malappuram LS byelection with UDF aligning with forces like SDPI, Jamaat-e-Islami and even the RSS. He also asked the Congress and League to make their stand clear on the recent opinion of Supreme Court to settle Ayodhya dispute through talks while their national leaderships are at loggerheads on the issue.