THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: From being a sentinel, veteran CPM leader V.S. Achuthanandan seems to be gradually acquiring the role of main opposition voice, something which comes so naturally to him. Since the LDF came to power in May, Achuthanandan has been extremely critical of the government on several issues including the choice of chief minister’s advisors. Right in the beginning the veteran leader opposed the former AG M.K. Damodaran’s appointment as legal advisor on the ground that he had appeared for Lottery King Santiago Martin who was banished from Kerala.
Then he shot off a letter to central leadership against Gita Gopinath’s appointment as financial adviser to the chief minister. Unlike Damodaran, the financial advisor continues to hold office. Achuthanandan had criticized the stand taken by the Standing Counsel on the ice cream parlour case in Supreme Court. On the Maoist killing, the veteran leader shot off a letter to the chief minster demanding action against policemen responsible for the alleged encounter in Nilambur forests. However, the chief minister had rejected his demand saying that the government would not take any action which demoralizes the police force.
He had also hit out at the resort mafia-bureaucrat nexus saying that it was trying to get sanction for unauthorized constructions including resorts and housing complexes. On the High Court verdict regularizing the DLF apartment complex in Kochi after levying heavy fine, the veteran leader had urged the government to go in for appeal. And the latest was the M M Mani issue on which he has already shot off a letter to the central leadership.
