It's a divided house, says Kerala oppn of CPM govt

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala's Left Democratic Front predictably faced the heat of a revitalized Opposition, fresh from its thumping victory in the Lok Sabha election, on the opening day of a new session of the state assembly, which witnessed disruption and an early adjournment.

The chief grouse of the Congress-led opposition was that the V S Achuthanandan-led ministry was bereft of any "collective responsibility" and therefore had no right to continue in office.

The embarrassment of the government was aggravated by the division in its coalition partner Janata Dal (S), a party which is a house divided in itself.

Expectedly, the opposition used the SNC Lavalin corruption case, in which CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan is one of the accused, to good effect, pointing out that the chief minister and his team of ministers were making contradictory statements on the Lavalin issue. Opposition leaders said the CM ought to quit or sack the ministers who have dissenting voices on the Lavalin issue.

The opposition benches were provided extra ammunition by reports emanating from the CPM central committee meeting in Delhi over the weekend, that at least two ministers from the V S Achuthanandan ministry had openly criticized the style of functioning of the chief minister. However, neither the CM nor the ministers concerned, has spoken on the matter after the central committee meeting.

Opposition MLAs trooped to the well of the House and sat there in protest, but the chief
minister dismissed the allegations against his ministry as a creation of the opposition and a section of the media.

Opposition leader Oommen Chandy continued shelling the government outside the House, stating that there was a total impasse in governance, while addressing media persons. "The chief minister is going in one direction and his ministers in another. As a result, the developmental projects including the capital city development are all held up. As for the Vizhinjam port, no one seems to know what next about the project", he said.

Outside of the assembly, speculation has continued to mount about the way forward for the Achuthanandan ministry, given the apparently deep divide between CPM leaders seen to be backing the state secretary and those supporting the CM.