Brutal police actions against mass protests are not anything new in Kerala and under the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, they have been few and far between. But the Communist Party of India is all for reaching a consensus on vexing issues through discussions, State unit secretary of the party Kanam Rajendran has said.
Laying the GAIL pipeline was on the agenda of the LDF, as stated in its election manifesto. But practical issues that caused concern among people should be resolved through discussions, he told the media here on Friday, ahead of the conclusion of the southern leg of the Janajagratha Yatra that he led.
Choosing not to blame Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who holds the Home portfolio, for the alleged police excesses, he said Mr. Vijayan had outlined a people-friendly approach for the police. “But the Kerala Police have a history of being unkind to mass protests. Such a response is largely isolated these days, but the CPI is of the view that the police should take corrective steps,” he said.
Protest against IOC
Mr. Rajendran is set to take part in a protest meeting against the LPG storage facility of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) at Puthuvype, near here, alongside veteran CPI(M) leader V.S. Achuthanandan and senior Congress leader V.M. Sudheeran on November 6. Police action against the protesters of Puthuvype had put the government on the back foot earlier this year.
Mr. Rajendran said he was unaware if the Advocate General had responded to Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan’s missive on delegating Additional Advocate General Ranjith Thampan to represent the government in the land grab case involving Transport Minister Thomas Chandy. “It is not a political issue. The relationship between the government and the AG has been defined by the Supreme Court as an administrative one. While the AG is a Constitutional authority, nowhere it is said it is above the government,” he said.
In a veiled attack on Mr. Chandy, he said he could have responded to Mr. Chandy’s inopportune outburst at Alappuzha in the same manner, but avoided it as the purpose of the Janajagratha Yatra was to unite the LDF. The front would recommend action against the Minister if he was proven guilty in the case.
Mr. Rajendran conceded that there was indeed a slip in allowing a circular on Deendayal Upadhyay, never reckoned as a political icon in the country, to be issued by the Education Department. “The job of civil servants is not to photocopy and circulate anything that’s received from the Centre.”
He also accused the Congress of working towards weakening the LDF and the secular values that it represented.